Founded in 2009 by Theodore Richards, The Chicago Wisdom Project was created in response to the industrial and corporate models of education increasingly prevalent in the American educational landscape. We worked with youth on the south side of Chicago and beyond: after school programs; rites of passage retreats and summer camps; community events and a community garden and urban farm. Our youth wrote books, made films, created works of visual arts and performed theater, song and dance.

Our work impacted both individuals and communities: We believed that our students could become creators of culture, not merely consumers, and empowered them to challenge the assumptions of modern, industrial culture through the arts.

Through our work with youth and educators, we inspired debate about the true meaning of education beyond the test-centered and utilitarian focus of the current political discourse. Education is not merely about the concepts and curriculum; it is also about process and pedagogy. The context for learning is a metaphor for the world. Most schools are based on the metaphors of capitalist competition; of mechanism and industrialism; and of the prison. As a response, we provided a way for our youth to reimagine our world through an asset narrative – focusing on their gifts – rather than a deficit narrative, focusing on what’s wrong with them.

In our last years, our emphasis shifted away from running youth programs to thought leadership, trainings, curriculum development, and writing. Although we no longer exist as a nonprofit organization, our work lives on through the book Reimagining the Classroom and Reimagine Consulting.