Featured Projects
Chicago Mobile Makers
Founded by Maya Bird-Murphy in 2017, Chicago Mobile Makers provides design-thinking and problem-solving workshops for youth living in disinvested communities. Their mission is to engage and empower youth through the power of creation and skill-building, to train and support future public interest architects, designers, and makers, and to advocate for equity and diversity in the design fields. Learn more.

Chicago Mobile Makers



The Chicago Mobile Makerspace

Tom Harris
The Chicago Mobile Makerspace is a retired United States Postal Service delivery van that has been converted into a classroom, tool shop, design studio, gallery, and community gathering space. The design of the Mobile Makerspace allows students to spill outside and activate underutilized space.




Obsidian Collection
Coach House

Maya Bird-Murphy
The Obsidian Coach House will be a modern hub for coffee, co-working, content creation, and archives of Black images, artifacts, and stories.


Maya Bird-Murphy
Music Lives Here
Music Lives Here is a multi-media project by Chicago graphic art studio Sonnenzimmer and Maya Bird-Murphy. The project was commissioned by the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Music Lives Here pays tribute to the spaces, places, and people that have shaped Chicago’s music landscape, past and present, in the form of unique graphic sidewalk markers installed at 50 sites across Chicago. The project is further supported by this website, a small print guide distributed to Chicago Public Library branches, and pop-up performances throughout the year. Music Lives Here is part of the City of Chicago’s Year of Chicago Music initiative. Learn More.

