Join us for a meet and greet with 2024 Holdspace recipient WILD YAMS
Saturday, September 7 from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

WILD YAMS: Black Mothers Artist Residency, piloted in 2019, provides Black Mother Artists and Caretakers the opportunity to focus and recenter their artistic practice and grow their creative careers. WILD YAMS is an art residency experience designed to support and uplift artists' access to creative equity on the South Side of Chicago. At its core, WILD YAMS honors Black Motherhood and the creative labor of Caretakers, a demographic often overlooked and undervalued within the context of traditional artists' residencies.

We believe the core of Black Motherhood is creativity and innovation, and lead with a framework that is both intersectional and intergenerational. We center radical access to artist support, studios, intentional partnerships, and creative communities. We value Black creativity, dialogue, rigor, reflection, and community. We build collectively and allow our challenges to sow thoughtful artistic practices that affirm Black Motherhood. We acknowledge our innate and unique ways of being in this world, connected to rich ancestry, guided by Love, Art, and Equity. Since 2021, WILD YAMS has been in creative partnership with the THE cre.æ.tive ROOM (located in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood) our physical site of residency programming and studio space.