The idea for the Jewish Museum of Chicago emerged from several conversations with other Jewish folks living in the region from which a crucial fact emerged: there is not a museum for contemporary Jewish art in the city or state. The closest institution would be the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, Illinois. The Holocaust Museum however does not deal specifically with contemporary art and Anti-Zionist and Palestinian liberation as the speculative Jewish Museum of Chicago would.

A museum does not get built overnight. However, this project will be the first building block towards the goal of a brick and mortar Jewish Museum of Chicago. The museum will likely be a multi-decade collective project, with the goal of a physical location but initially in pursuit of building a coalition of Anti-Zionist Jewish, Palestinian, Muslim and Arab artists to aid in the founding. Taking the form of group meetings, critiques and exhibition making, the Museum intends to highlight the joy and liberation of Judaism, as opposed to the strife and suffering. Additionally the project aims to offer accessible and multigenerational entry points to Jewish storytelling and cultural art practices.

We want to see these stories in the world, they need to be told.