ILA Creative Studio

Interested in bringing Hear We Art™ to your school, organization, or community space?

Hear We Art™ is ILA’s arts and wellness program combining music, visual art, and guided reflection to create meaningful opportunities for creativity, connection, and healing. Participants move through a unique sound to art experience inspired by the legacy of Black musicians and walk away with a personalized visual piece that encourages reflection and dialogue.

We can adapt our programming for schools, community organizations, youth programs, corporate wellness, conferences, public events, senior programs, and more. Also ILA provides trained artist facilitators, art materials, and all program equipment!

Interested in partnering? Reach out to our Program Coordinator Andrea Coleman at [email protected] to learn more!

Young people decompressing. Expressing. Healing through music and art within their own communities. 🖤

This year we carried that into classrooms across Chicago. And what we witnessed moved us.

Our young people deserve access to healing. Not just the ones in certain neighborhoods. Not just the ones in certain schools. All of them.

Building a sustainable creative career means thinking beyond today. 🖤

This month ILA is partnering with Cooperation Racine, L.W.C.A. to bring financial education directly to the artist community. Before their Regenerative Investing Workshop at the Southside Flea on October 3rd join us on September 24th for a virtual prep session.

During the prep session we will:
🖤 Walk you through what a Roth IRA is and how it works
🖤 Review eligibility requirements
🖤 Help you gather everything you need before the workshop
🖤 Answer any questions you may have

Then join us in person at the Southside Flea on October 3rd for the full Regenerative Investing Workshop with Cooperation Racine.

This is for the artists. The freelancers. The cultural workers. And anyone who has ever wondered how to start building long term financial stability.

Link in bio to register for the prep session!

You have seen the work. Now meet the people behind it. 🖤

Up first. Andrea, ILA’s Program Coordinator. The person making sure artists, residents, schools, and organizations come together through creative experiences rooted in connection and care.

Swipe to read why she shows up for this mission every single day.

Did you know the BLACC Community Forum is live? 👀

It is a space to ask real questions. Share what you know. Build with people who are navigating similar paths. And simply be in community with Black artists who get it because they are living it too.

Already a member? Open the app and get in on it. Not on BLACC yet? Download BLACC: The Good Lookin’ App today and join the converation! Link in bio. 🖤

A few weeks into the new school year and we are checking in. 🖤

For the teacher who poured everything into the first week and has not stopped since. For the parent juggling drop offs and work deadlines. For the staff member holding it together behind the scenes. For anyone in the school community who needed a breath and did not get one.

We see you.

Our dream is to one day bring Hear We Art™ into school communities throughout the year. Not just as a one time experience but as a consistent and accessible space for decompression, healing, and creative expression whenever it is needed most.

Hear We Art™ creates a space where music guides you inward and visual art helps you release what words cannot always hold. No experience needed. Just a guided moment to exhale, express, and reconnect with yourself.

Keep an eye on our page for upcoming events. 🖤

Happy Labor Day. 🖤

Shoutout to every Black artist who has been putting in the cotinious work. Creating. Building. Fighting for fair pay and the resources they deserve. We see you and we celebrate you today.

According to the Chicago Arts Census 43% of arts workers reported they are rarely or never paid the full value of their labor. And more than 70% earned below $50,000 in each year surveyed.

And Black artists? They were among the smallest populations captured in that Census. A gap that tells us there is still so much more to uncover about the specific and compounding barriers Black artists face in building sustainable careers.

The numbers tell a story. But so does the courage of every Black artist who keeps showing up anyway. That is worth celebrating too.

This is why we do what we do. To make sure Black artists in Chicago have the tools, the community, and the resources to build sustainable creative careers.

And while there is still more work ahead we pause today to celebrate. Enjoy your day off. Fire up the grill. Pour something good. And enjoy the people you love.

Hey community. You good? 🖤

It has been a year. A full one. And somewhere between the hustle, the creating, the showing up, and the building we sometimes forget to check in with ourselves.

September is Self Care Awareness Month. And Hear We Art™ is our reminder that healing is not a luxury. It is a practice.

So before you keep scrolling, keep creating, keep building. Take a second. Breathe. Stand up and stretch. Step outside for a few minutes and let the sun pour into you for a change. You deserve that.

And one last thing! Our Hear We Art™ activity books are now available for purchase! A tool designed to help you decompress, reflect, and express through art and guided exercises on your own time.

We debuted them at BALA and now they are available online. Grab yours today for $10 at the link in bio!