Thoughts on Parenthood

Thoughts on Parenthood is an interactive arts project examining the unique experience of being a parent in Chicago. In partnership with activist and photographer Tonika Johnson and 14 cultural organizations, Lyric's Learning and Creative Engagement team connected with families across the city of Chicago and gathered personal stories of parents—their greatest wishes, biggest needs, and proudest moments.

To learn more about Blue, an opera by Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson that served as inspiration for this project, visit us here.

Meet the families

Parents featured in this project were virtually interviewed by Tonika Johnson during the fall of 2020. Excerpts of these audio stories are available to listen to, and are accompanied by family portraits. These audio stories deal with themes of race, education, health, safety and identity, and offer a glimpse into the varying experiences of what it means to be a parent in Chicago.

Meet the families

Tonika Johnson

Tonika Johnson is a social justice artist and photographer from Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. As a trained photojournalist and teaching artist, she has been engaged in building an artistic legacy that gained citywide recognition in the last two years. Tonika Johnson is the creator of the Folded Map, a project that visually connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on the North and South sides of Chicago.

Learn more

What does "parent" mean?

For the purposes of this survey, a “parent” is defined as anyone who has taken legal and/or social responsibility for a child. The goal of this project is to include as many unique stories of parenthood as possible.

Examples of parents include, but are by no means limited to: