Tonika Lewis Johnson: Lines Were Drawn
About the exhibition
Connecting over a decade of work, Tonika Lewis Johnson’s first museum solo exhibition foregrounds photography as the foundation of her practice in community organizing and activism. On view are key projects such as Everyday Englewood (2016), Folded Map (2018), Inequity for Sale (2021), UnBlocked Englewood (2024–ongoing), and a newly commissioned sculpture and model of speculative architecture titled What Could Have Been (2027), produced in collaboration with BORDERLESS Studio. A Chicago native and lifelong resident of the south side Englewood neighborhood, Johnson draws on personal experience to examine a history of city planning policies and visualize the effects on the housing landscape and lived experiences of its residents. Curated by MoCP curator of exhibitions and public engagement Kristin Taylor, the exhibition traces Johnson’s evolving approach and her sustained commitment to research, dialogue, and visualizing histories of segregation and repair.
About the artist
Tonika Lewis Johnson is chief executive officer of the Folded Map Project nonprofit and cofounder of Englewood Arts Collective. Her work has been exhibited at Loyola University Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; the National Public Housing Museum; the Chicago Cultural Center; and the Gordon Parks Foundation, among others. Johnson is a 2024 Gordon Parks Foundation Art Fellow and a 2025 MacArthur Fellow.
Support for this exhibition
Lead support for this exhibition is provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art and the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.
MoCP is supported by Columbia College Chicago, MoCP Advisory Board, Museum Council, individuals, private and corporate foundations, and government grants.
The 2027–2028 exhibition season is sponsored in part by the Comer Family Foundation, Efroymson Family Fund, Henry Nias Foundation, the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Rowan Foundation, and Venable Foundation.
MoCP acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council.
