From April 3 to May 2, Black Boy Joy transformed the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot into a reflection of childhood, family and community, as North Lawndale resident and artist Lavontae Alexander brought his personal story to life.
Rooted in nostalgia and shaped by his West Side upbringing, Alexander’s work explored the emotional core of Black boyhood, centering on joy, love and connection through portraits and symbolic details.
For Alexander, a North Lawndale resident and student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the exhibition is both a tribute to his upbringing and a reflection of the community that continues to shape his art.
“My journey as an artist and the biggest influence on my work is my family,” he said. “I realize that I tie a lot of my childhood, especially my relationship with my mother and father, into my pieces. I’m also really big on community. Much of my art reflects that, along with the feeling of childhood love and joy.”
Jonathan Kelley is a co-founder of the Lawndale Pop-Up, a community museum project he created to engage and reflect the local neighborhood. He works alongside Chelsea Ridley to develop and shape the initiative. The Pop-Up is located at 3601 W. Douglas Blvd.
While studying at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Kelley and Ridley were inspired by connections in North Lawndale to create a community museum, launching the project in 2016. By 2019, they began exhibitions at the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot, starting with a youth-led show in partnership with After School Matters focused on ideas of safety. The shipping container was purchased in 2019, when community members named it the Lawndale Pop-Up Spot and the first exhibitions began, marking the start of the series that same year
“The shipping container is essentially the museum, although we also host programs throughout the community. Most of the curators and artists are from the community and we work with them to help shape the stories they want to tell, whether for our current exhibit or ones we’ve done in the past,” Kelley said.
Alexander explained that he included a series of personal photos along the wall, many featuring himself and his family, as a way to highlight connection and community. For him, these mementos help ground the exhibition in real memories and reflect the joy and love at the center of his work.
“It has to do with community. It has to do with family love and things like that. All the pictures of my mother and father scattered around show us smiling. It shows joy. It shows what Black Boy’s Joy is. That’s community. That’s family,” Alexander said.
Another detail Alexander really likes are the masks. The small plastered faces are something he wishes he had done more of because he really appreciated how they came out.
“I had a small butterfly in my baby picture, a medium butterfly in my eighth grade picture, and a full adult butterfly in my senior picture. I feel like that was really symbolic because it shows growth, being free, and blossoming into something beautiful,” Alexander said.
Kelley explained that the organization works closely with community residents to build skills in curation and storytelling, often partnering with other museums to share best practices and provide hands-on experiences like field trips. Through open calls, residents are invited to propose exhibition ideas, which are then selected by a group of community members.
“We want to be a space of community connection and cohesion. Come once or twice a week and see a neighbor or meet a new friend. We want to be a place of positivity and joy,” Kelley said.
The Lawndale Pop-Up Spot is deeply connected to a network of arts organizations in the neighborhood, including the Firehouse Community Arts Center, the School of the Art Institute at Homan Square, which helps foster ongoing collaborations with local artists and the One Lawndale Arts & Activism Incubator.
The set-up is community-driven that includes features like a cafe, flowers and books, created through partnerships with organizations such as Open Books and Stone Temple Baptist Church.
“I think the strongest communities have strong connections across generations. I also want people to really explore the exhibitions and think about what the artist, curator, or historian is trying to say and how that reflects the community and its desires. Ultimately, I think North Lawndale is such a rich and strong neighborhood,” Kelley said.
The opening reception, held on April 3, was filled with strong support from his community, with everyone Alexander hoped would attend, including teachers. The experience exceeded expectations and left him feeling deeply loved and appreciated.
“It means so much to be presented in the same community where I’ve been face painting on the same boulevard for the past four years. The people in the community have even come up to me at events saying, ‘Oh, I’ve seen your exhibition’ or ‘I’ve heard about it.’ I like that. It shows that I’m connected,” Alexander said.