cohorts form households.
February 10 - March 10 | Next
Chicago Cohort III

A 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. In the 5th week, tables are installed, 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 installation, and documentation.

4-Step Arc

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.

People gathered around a long table enjoying a meal in a well-lit room with windows, with food, drinks, and a bouquet of roses as centerpieces. From Tables Project Chicago, a civic and cultural platform. 
Week 1

Orientation

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 safety
Design principles
Woodshop intro
Person using a compass to draw a circle on a piece of wood. From Tables Project Chicago, a civic and cultural platform. 
Week Two

Discussion + 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 table
Social design
Design thinking
Foundation/frame/legs
Tabletop design
A group of people wearing masks and safety glasses in a woodworking workshop, with one person operating a table saw while others observe. From Tables Project Chicago, a civic and cultural platform. 
Week Three

Guided Build

Scaled models of table designs produced with guided wood shop instruction, leading to the production of full-scale table parts.

Woodshop practice
Scaled model
Design adjustment
Cut list
Two people are working together to operate a woodworking router on a piece of wood, with one person holding the router and the other holding a guide. They are shaping or carving the wood on a workbench. From Tables Project Chicago 
Week Four

Guided Build II

Assembly of a full-scale table. Each table is sanded, sealed, quality tested, photographed, and then disassembled for transport. 

Full scale assembly
Sanding
Sealing
Quality check
Document
A small round wooden table outside a brick building with a partially open door, a red house number sign '910' on the wall, and a metal awning above the entrance. From Tables Project Chicago, a civic and cultural platform. 
Week Five

Installation & Activation

The table is signed and assembled by 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 delivery
Activation
Photo & video
Archive
Closing

Outcomes

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 by wheatpaste, exhibition, 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.

  • We get in touch with you shortly after receiving your information to schedule a brief virtual call to discuss your interest.

  • Whether participating in a cohort or supporting one, we assign a current or forthcoming cohort to build with.

  • cohorts > tables > activations > testimonies > circulation

EXPRESS INTEREST
SUPPORT

  • "Being able to make my own table showed me we need to make more time having deep conversations with family."

    Linda Kimbrough, Chicago Cohort I

  • "With my table I'll be able to use it for personal use and with my family."

    Chris Willis, Chicago Cohort I

  • "It builds stronger connections. Sometimes you learn new things you didn't know, like one of your family members going through things you didn't know about because you don't talk."

    Demaurus Stevens, Chicago Cohort I