HOUR Studio

The Jane Addams Hull-House Museum presents PERENNIAL CITY: Experiments in Urban Gardening, the first exhibition to consider how immigrant communities and Hull-House residents shaped Chicago’s gardens and parks by transforming disused private land into shared spaces of cultivation.  Opening with a special reception on March 19, Perennial City brings together rarely seen photographs of Hull-House’s open-air schools, playgrounds, and rooftop gardens with archival materials, collection items, and newly commissioned works by Chicago artists. Set against the backdrop of rapid industrialization and city beautification campaigns at the turn of the twentieth century, these materials reveal how immigrants used gardening to claim health, dignity, and power in the urban landscape.  The exhibition is inspired by figures and groups such as Jens Jensen, Laura Dainty Pelham and the People’s Friendly Club, an intergenerational circle of Near West Side residents who, through agreements brokered by Hull-House, gained access to land and experimented with sharing property, labor, and care. These “perennial” concerns shaped early philosophies of urban design and civic life, with legacies that continue today. Featuring original commissions by @csiembra , @olly.costello.art , @relativitytextiles , @melissahpotter , and @red_line_service_institute , Perennial City connects these histories to our lives now. Across installations, prints, painting, and living materials, artists explore land access, extraction, migration, and regeneration—asking how tending gardens has helped communities survive and imagine futures across generations. What does it mean to grow a city together?  Who gets access to land—and at what cost?  What can immigrant histories teach us about urban futures? Follow along here and visit our website for exhibition events, programs, and public conversations. – Perennial City: Experiments in Urban Gardening is supported by the Efroymson Family Fund, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Terra Foundation for American Art, the Building Climate Resilient Spaces for the Humanities at UIC project, and generous donors to the museum’s annual Neighborhood Social. Design by @hour.studio

*Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House, 1889-1935* (September 6, 2024—December 19, 2025), an exhibition, catalog, and workshop series, celebrates the work of immigrant artists and reformers at the country’s most important social settlement. The exhibition showcases Hull-House’s rarely exhibited textile collection, drawn from a wide array of immigrant traditions. Also highlighted are handbound books from Ellen Gates Starr’s bookbindery, newly restored paintings by Alice Kellogg Tyler, and a new selection of ceramics from the historic Hull-House Kilns. Alongside the team at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, we developed the graphic system for the communications campaign and exhibition. The design draws on core Hull-House principles—dignity, education, and collective well-being through genuine craft—translating them into a set of modular elements that function as a flexible toolkit. While visitors experienced the exhibition throughout the museum, they were invited to assemble their own booklet, giving attention to Hull-House’s lesser-known co-founder, Ellen Gates Starr (1859-1940), who was committed to the ideals of the Arts and Crafts movement and believed that art should be accessible to everyone. Notably, the exhibition also sheds light on immigrant artists, who came to Hull-House to teach and learn, with their names woven throughout the space, wrapping the stairwell, and appearing beneath the objects on view. We are deeply grateful to have worked with everyone involved, both now and those who contributed throughout history. Client: @hullhousemuseum Design: @hour.studio with @djmaruz and @fionalyonscarlson Production: @pgi_worldwide Editing: @jaynekelley and Georgina Valverde Typeface: Laica by @abcdinamo Photo credits: All photos by @bob.mov (Robert Heishman + Robert Salazar)

Winner of the @aigadesign 50 Covers 50 books award, GRAY at 60 is an in-depth volume dedicated to the 2023 exhibition at GRAY, surveying the gallery’s six decades of giving a platform to artists’ visions. GRAY at 60 features a contribution from Elizabeth Broun, PhD, Director Emerita of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and texts from artists Bethany Collins, Torkwase Dyson, Theaster Gates, Ewan Gibbs, Rashid Johnson, Alex Katz, Jaume Plensa, and others. The book weaves together the voices of the participating artists with the gallery’s curatorial perspective and context. Conceived with a deliberate visual cadence, the sequence alternates recto and verso placements, juxtaposes full-page reproductions with intimate details, and situates artists’ essays in direct conversation with their works. The cover is bound in a light grey, two-toned book cloth, its surface stamped in white foil with the exhibition title and the complete chronology of the gallery’s sixty years in operation. The front and back endsheets depict, in silver metallic ink, the names of every artist represented in the gallery’s storied history. Client: @richardgraygallery Design: @hour.studio with @melcher.gabriel Print Management: @djmaruz Prepress: @pgi_worldwide Printing: @diekeureprinting Editing: Amy Peltz and @olsendb Production and editing: Bradley Biancardi, Allison Bindler, Raven Falquez Munsell, and Colin Ross Typefaces: Times New Roman designed by Stanley Morrison; Standard, designed by Bryce Wilner; Robinson by Commecial @commercialtype Photo credits: Slides 1, 5, and 10 by @nicogardner ; book scans and animation by @fionalyonscarlson

Winner of both the @aigadesign 50 Covers 50 books and @typographic_arts STA 100 awards! Published on the occasion of the exhibition *Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House, 1889–1935*, on view at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, Chicago, September 6, 2024–December 19, 2025. *Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House, 1889–1935* is the museum’s first exhibition catalogue which celebrates the work of immigrant artists and reformers at the country’s most important social settlement. The publication showcases Hull-House’s rarely exhibited textile collection, drawn from a wide array of immigrant traditions. Also highlighted are handbound books from Ellen Gates Starr’s bookbindery, newly restored paintings by Alice Kellogg Tyler, and a new selection of ceramics from the historic Hull-House Kilns, as well as a collection of essays by Ellen Gates Starr. Contributors include Museum educators and curators Katie Akerboom, Ross Stanton Jordan, Nadia Maragha, Matthew Randle-Bent, and Liesl Olson; artist Faheem Majeed; and scholars Fiona Maxwell and Annie V.F. Storr. Client: @hullhousemuseum Design: @hour.studio with @djmaruz , @austincwatson , and @fionalyonscarlson Print Management: @djmaruz Prepress: @pgi_worldwide Printing: @grafiche_veneziane Editing: @jaynekelley Typeface: Laica by @abcdinamo Photo credits: Slide 9 depicts the book along with the special edition textile boomark from The Weaving Mill @theweavingmill ; photos 1 and 9 by Nico Gardner @nicogardner ; book scans and animation by Fiona Lyons-Carlson @fionalyonscarlson

Special thanks to @aigadesign for recognizing these two books in the 50 Books/50 Covers competition. And thanks as always to @hullhousemuseum and @richardgraygallery for the ongoing trust, and to @pgi_worldwide @grafiche_veneziane and @diekeure for the incredible production and printing attention. Additionally, thanks again and again to all of the collaborators who worked with us on these publications. — — — *Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House, 1889-1935:* Contributors include Museum educators and curators Katie Akerboom, Ross Stanton Jordan, Nadia Maragha, Matthew Randle-Bent, and Liesl Olson; artist Faheem Majeed; and scholars Fiona Maxwell and Annie V.F. Storr. Client: @hullhousemuseum Design: @hour.studio with @djmaruz , @austincwatson , and @fionalyonscarlson Print Management: @djmaruz Prepress: @pgi_worldwide Printing: @grafiche_veneziane Editing: @jaynekelley Typefaces: Laica by @abcdinamo — — — *GRAY at 60* Features an extensive contribution from Elizabeth Broun, PhD, Director Emerita of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and texts from artists Bethany Collins, Torkwase Dyson, Theaster Gates, Ewan Gibbs, Rashid Johnson, Alex Katz, Jaume Plensa, and others. Client: @richardgraygallery Design: @hour.studio with @melcher.gabriel Print Management: @djmaruz Prepress: @pgi_worldwide Printing: @diekeureprinting Editing: Amy Peltz and @olsendb Production and editing: Bradley Biancardi, Allison Bindler, Raven Falquez Munsell, and Colin Ross Typefaces: Times New Roman designed by Stanley Morrison; Standard by Bryce Wilner; Robinson by Commecial @commercialtype

📣🚨📣🚨📣🚨ᴡᴡᴡ.ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇᴄʟɪᴍᴀᴛᴇꜱᴏᴜᴠᴇɴɪʀꜱ.ᴄᴏᴍ website is now live - made by the beautiful people of @hour.studio 🖲️Explore and BUY 🤑 all the new Future Climate Souvenirs of Chicago currently on show at the Chicago Architecture Biennial at 840 North Michigan Avenue until Jan 31st 2026. @chicagoarchitecturebiennial #chicagoarchitecturebiennial #CAB2025 #futureclimatesouvenirs #parsonsandcharlesworth #CAB6 #SHIFT2025

@hour.studio closed out the inaugural ACT WELL YOUR PART festival with a vivid, candle-lit reflection on a century of design for theatre at Hull-House. Tobey Albright, Mollie Edgar, and Ashley King presented their rich and multifaceted design identity for ACT WELL YOUR PART in dialogue with Hull-House Curator Ross Jordan, Director Liesl Olson, and Associate Director Matt Randle-Bent. While this event closes out our first festival, our theatre exhibition remains open in the Residents’ Dining Hall, alongside our exhibition on arts education at Hull-House, RADICAL CRAFT. Photographs by Ally Almore @allyalmorephoto

Join us this Wednesday, May 7 at 6 pm, for a conversation and celebration of Hull-House Theatre and the design work we've produced together. In conversation with Hull-House staff, and the audience, designers Tobey Albright (@tobeyebot ), Mollie Edgar (@maedgar ), and Ashley King (@ashley__king ) reflect upon the work of reimagining over a century of design for performance at the country’s most influential social settlement, engaging design as a mode of reproducing history in the present. "Act Well Your Part" is an exhibition and festival hosted at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum (@hullhousemuseum ), celebrating the legacies of Hull-House Theatre and building a future of civically engaged theatre in Chicago. A theatrical hub for the city of Chicago for over a century, Hull-House played a pivotal role in the development of community theatre, the Little Theatre movement, Improv, and Chicago’s iconic non-profit theatre scene. Taking its name from the epigraph emblazoned above the original Hull-House stage, "Act Well Your Part, There All the Honor Lies" reframes contemporary Chicago theatre as an essential part of the city’s civic fabric. RSVP with the link in our bio. To celebrate the close of their Spring festival, the first 30 attendees will receive a FREE "Act Well Your Part" tote bag Credits: multiple photos within the second slide are by Sarah Larson @selfoto , video sequences with candles, title, and credits, by @ashley__king

Join Hour Studio for a conversation and celebration of Hull-House Theatre and design. In conversation with Hull-House staff, and the audience, designers Tobey Albright and Mollie Edgar reflect upon the work of reimagining over a century of design for performance at the country’s most influential social settlement, engaging design as a mode of reproducing history in the present. Tickets at the link in bio! Leo Krug as Nagg and Connie Mathieu as Nell in Hull-House Theatre production of "Endgame" by Samuel Beckett, 1964. Photograph by Robert W. Gedman. Image courtesy of University of Illinois Chicago Special Collections. Act Well Your Part is supported by the Discovery Partners Institute Design by @hour.studio

The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago (@mocpchi ) is a photography-specific institution whose mission is to generate ideas and provoke dialogue around photography's artistic, cultural, and political roles in our world today. To promote their ongoing exhibitions and events, Hour redesigned the site with an emphasis on large, immersive images, related content that connects past and present exhibitions and events, filterable event types, and a fluid and flexible interface. 

 Design and frontend development by @hour.studio Content strategy and development by @spellerbergprj 
 Big thanks to the @mocpchi team for their trust.

“Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967” book for the exhibition curated by Dr. Marin R. Sullivan (@sculpturalthings ) at the DePaul Art Museum (@depaulartmuseum ). Very special thanks to @edgarmillerart for opening up some of Edgar Miller’s spaces and archives for us to wander within and through, as well as @hellosunroom for opening up their studio and practice in the spirit of collaboration. And extra special thanks to @sculpturalthings @lcdelara and @ionitbehar for the trust and dedication required to help create this anti-modern design dream. Client: @depaulartmuseum 
Design: @hour.studio with @austincwatson Print Management: @textural_red Printing: @npndrukkers Copy editing: Susan Davidson Typefaces: Kommuna by The Temporary State and Stanley by @optimofoundry Image Credits 1-9. Scanned images of the "Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967" cover, jacket, bookmark and interior. 10. Page through video of the "Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967" book by @open2doorsandsmile . Generous support for "Edgar Miller: Anti-Modern, 1917-1967" was provided by the Terra Foundation (@terraamericanart ) for American Art as part of their Art Design Chicago (@artdesignchicago ) initiative.

2024, what a year. So much gratitude to our collaborators and clients for making it all more joyous than we could have imagined on our own. And an extra special thanks to everyone (listed below, in no particular order) who helped out (or we helped out) throughout the year—we are so very grateful for you. @textural_red @mllr_nyc @renatagraw @lucasreif @melcher.gabriel @open2doorsandsmile @austincwatson @srahsart @shaunamaries @sophierossart @elliotjover @roeleveld @wilddriscoll @hellosunroom Full project documentation and credits coming soon.