Activist's art project analyzes Chicago's segregation in 'Folded Map' project

Tonika Johnson says her whole life has led up to the "Folded Map" project.

The 38-year-old grew up in Englewood on the South Side. She went to Lane Technical College Prep High School on the North Side. Later, she lived in Edgewater on the North Side for a while and now lives in Englewood again. So she has had a firsthand glimpse of the city's segregation.

"My whole life I knew how different these neighborhoods look, how different these streets look," said Johnson, an activist who co-founded the Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), a grass-roots organization aimed at solving community issues. "It was very clear to me growing up."

"Folded Map" is a visual investigation of Chicago's communities, using the grid system to identify and directly compare photographs and videos of North and South side blocks, such as the 6900 block of North Ashland in Rogers Park and the 6900 block of South Ashland in West Englewood.

"Same street, between 15 and 17 miles apart, but (the blocks) look completely different," Johnson said. "I wanted to really reveal how different the environments look, the structures look and also the sounds."

For the full story, click here.