Homes, studios, and collections sometimes overlap. The Roger Brown Study Collection (RBSC) is one such place. It is a house museum, archive, and one of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) special collections. Preserved in SAIC alum Roger Brown’s (BFA 1968, MFA 1970) former home and studio, RBSC is filled with objects from the far corners of the world of thing-making. You will find works by Chicago Imagists and non-mainstream artists, folk and tribal art, material and popular culture, costumes, furniture, and things found wandering here and there as well as Brown’s Ford Mustang still parked in the garage. The 1888 storefront building is a laboratory where students engage in the care, organization, interpretation, and preservation of varied collections. Guests from the public are welcome to engage in wonder here as well.

Working across a variety of media, Parsons & Charlesworth create objects, exhibits, texts and images that encourage reflection upon the current and future state of our designed culture. Considering objects as agents of change, the studio explores new typologies and prototypes alternate ways of living, often using narrative and speculation to propose scenarios that comment on contemporary issues. Founded by designers Tim Parsons and Jessica Charlesworth as a formal art and design studio in 2014 after years of informal collaboration, Parsons & Charlesworth became the grounding place to explore how object design can play a greater cultural role in the exploration of subjects such as climate change, personal survival and happiness.

Parsons & Charlesworth have presented and exhibited at MAAT (Lisbon), Science Gallery Dublin, Chicago Cultural Center, Arts Club of Chicago, Istanbul Design Biennial, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Fernwey Gallery (Chicago), WantedDesign (New York City), Aram Gallery (London), Brooks Stevens Gallery (Milwaukee) and the London Design Festival. Their work is featured in various private collections and in the permanent collection at the MAKVienna. Previous projects have been reviewed in various publications including the Chicago Tribune, Forbes, Reuters, Icon, Metropolis, Disegno, Domus, New City, Arbitare and Architect Magazine.

Everyone’s a Designer/Everyone’s Design, produced by Illinois Humanities, is a free traveling museum exhibition that explores and celebrates everyday Chicagoans’ influence on art and design in the city. Travelling across Chicago’s Cultural Centers, the exhibition tells the stories of 5 people, the homes they’ve made uniquely their own, and the rich design and architectural history of their neighborhoods.