The project started by identifying addresses and real estate (the Address Pairs), but quickly evolved into conversations with neighborhood residents. Tonika eventually brought North and South Side* residents together and documented their exchanges.
Ever since Folded Maps launch in 2020 the protect has touched an array of people. From workshops, to presentations, to even a play Folded Map has been able to travel into the lives of Chicagoan’s from every neighborhood.
Through a free action kit, Folded Map continues to live in ourselves and our neighbors. Folded Map asks that you keep engaging and you keep questioning why do we live where we live? How did we end up here and more importantly where are we going?
Tonika started the Folded Map Project as a visual investigation of Chicago’s neighborhoods, using the grid system to identify and directly compare photographs and videos of North and South side blocks (such as the 6900 block of North Ashland in Rogers Park and the 6900 block of South Ashland in West Englewood).
Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in the United States. After large numbers African American migrated into Chicago starting in 1916, the Chicago Real Estate Board instituted racially-restrictive policies that prevented blacks from purchasing, leasing and occupying housing beyond a set of small boundaries on the South Side of the city.
When black residents eventually moved into largely white neighborhoods, real estate agents encouraged white homeowners to sell their homes and move to the suburbs, convincing them their home values would soon drop. Housing segregation has declined gradually in the Chicago area in the past ten years.
Historically, Chicago residents have held preconceived notions of different neighborhoods in the city, based on lines drawn in the past. As the city pushes forward into the new eras, the responsibility to change is on us all.
Tonika Johnson's Folded Map project visually connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on the North and South Sides of Chicago. In this multimedia exhibition, Lewis Johnson investigates what urban segregation looks like and how it impacts Chicago residents. The project invites audiences to open a dialogue and question how we are all impacted by social, racial, and institutional conditions that segregate the city. Her goal is for individuals to understand how our urban environment is structured. She wants to challenge Chicagoans to think about how change may be possible and to contribute to a solution.
This map shows the population of Chicago divided by race.
Chicago operates on a grid system. The center of the grid is the intersection of State and Madison Streets in the Loop, and streets that traverse the city are labeled North, South, East, and West depending on their relation to this intersection. Address numbers increase based upon their distance away from the center.
The practice of redlining has its roots in the 1930s housing market. The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) was created to refinance home mortgages and minimize foreclosures. However, rather than determining who was a risk for investment based on finances, the HOLC explicitly denied loans on a basis of race. Neighborhoods populated by minorities were color-coded red and given the lowest possible grade of D. Aside from making homeownership difficult, the practice of redlining discouraged investment in resources such as schools, shops, banks, and community spaces. While certain neighborhoods dealt with a steady decline in investment and services, newer, mostly white, suburban communities enjoyed an increase in investment.
