cohorts form households.February 2 - 28 | Next Chicago Cohort IIIA cohort brings together 8 to 15 household representatives over 5 weeks to discuss, design, and build dining tables as social infrastructure, activate them at home, and offer testimony through photography. Together, cohort tables reestablish the household as a civic unit — a place where connection, belonging, and public life take shape.
Time Commitment
Cohorts meet Saturday morning and 2 evenings of the week for 4 weeks. On the 5th week, tables are delivered, activated by households, and documented by a photographer.
Materials + Support
Cohorts are provided with lumber & hardware, guided design and build support, strategies for table activation, table delivery, and documentation.
4-Step Arc
Orientation + Discussion
Build
Activate
Testify
Cost
Cohorts are underwritten by institutions with no cost to individual households. We regularly explore additional sponsorship, partnership, and patron support.
TABLES Project is a civic humanities platform built through households. It works at the scale where human beings actually become who they are.
Week 1Orientation
Getting to know the households represented by the individuals in the cohort, and becoming familiar with basic design principles, woodshop safety, and power tools.
TABLES Project framework Shop safetyDesign principlesWoodshop intro
Week TwoDiscussion + Design
Unpacking why a table matters for a household and the active role that it can play. Discussions blend into guided tabletop designing and leg choices, fortifying a union of form, meaning, and function.
Role of the tableSocial designDesign thinkingFoundation/frame/legsTabletop design 
Week ThreeGuided Build
Scaled models of table designs produced with guided wood shop instruction, leading to the production of full-scale table parts.
Woodshop practiceScaled modelDesign adjustmentCut list
Week FourGuided Build II
Assembly of a full-scale table. Each table is sanded, sealed, quality tested, photographed, and then disassembled for transport.
Full scale assemblySandingSealingQuality checkDocument
Week FiveDelivery & Activation
The table is delivered to the household it was designed for. A photographer visits and documents the household activating their table, and the images enter the TABLES archive as civic testimony.
Scheduled deliveryActivationPhoto & videoArchiveClosingOutcomes
Table: Hand-made instrument of household civic life
Activation: Use of the table in the home (meals, conversations, celebration, formation, reconciliation)
Testimony: Documentary evidence of activation in photo and video, the fabric of the TABLES Project
Circulation: Movement of household testimony through the city of Chicago (and beyond) by exhibition, wheatpaste, archive, and publication
Start The Conversation-
Let us know how you are interested in building. Use the “EXPRESS INTEREST” link if interested as a household representative in a cohort, or the “SUPPORT” link if interested as a cohort host, sponsor, or donor.
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We get in touch with you shortly after receiving your information to schedule a brief virtual call to discuss your interest.
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Whether participating in a cohort or supporting one, we assign a current or forthcoming cohort to build with.
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cohorts > tables > activations > testimonies > circulation
