JIMA was invited by the Chicago Architecture Biennial to facilitate a community workshop around the reimagining of the historic Slumbusters Gardens in the North Lawndale neighborhood in Chicago. The Slumbusters Garden was one of Chicago’s first community-led neighborhood gardens in response to neighborhood disinvestment and vacancy in the city. Today, the Slumbusters Garden has seen new energy from the effort of neighborhood volunteers. The workshop explored the potential of the garden’s future by elevating key components that historically anchored the garden and provide new opportunities for land-based learning and community investment. The workshop is a first step toward implementation that will maintain this legacy space into the future.
