Inspired Partnerships Collection, 1898-2002

Inspired Partnerships was a Chicago-based non-profit organization that helped over 200 religious congregations maintain their buildings by providing leadership training, information, and technical guidance to city congregations struggling with the realities of aging facilities. The organization was an outgrowth of a 1989 endowment-sponsored initiative of the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Chicago and funded through the Lilly Endowment and the National Trust. In 1991 the initial demonstration project became an independent organization and took the name Inspired Partnerships. Inspired Partnerships provided technical resources to congregations to help them assess the condition of their facilities and to evaluate and prioritize repairs, upgrades and renovations. Projects ranged from the development of space-sharing plans to comprehensive facility reports, energy audits and cross-country seminary surveys assessing the nature of courses offered in property management-related issues. One of Inspired Partnerships' major studies, Good Space and Good Works, documents the extensive use of the city's church properties by civic groups. The significance of this work lies not only in efforts to preserve notable ecclesiastical architecture in the Chicago metropolitan area but also in the preservation of the social infrastructure within these communities. These buildings serve not only as places of worship but also as loci of essential community services such as employment programs, child care, welfare-to-work programs and GED classes. Inspired Partnerships was dissolved in 1993.

This collection consists of three series: Drawings, Photographs, and Miscellaneous. The bulk of this collection is comprised of diazotype and laser-printed architectural drawings. There are some blueprints and a very few original linen drawings. Some of the drawings appear to have been reproduced from microfilm and, consequently, are of poor quality. Inspired Partnerships worked predominantly within the limits of the City of Chicago, and the scope of the collection reflects this. The buildings documented are located in all parts of the city and from a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic areas including, but not limited to: Norwood Park, Rogers Park, Edgewater, Uptown, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Logan Square, Bucktown, Austin, Garfield Park, Near West Side, Near South Side, Kenwood, Hyde Park, Washington Park, Morgan Park, and Beverly. Congregations in suburbs such as Evanston, Elmhurst, Glencoe, Oak Park and others are also represented. Series II, Photographs, contains a few dozen black and white and color photos of exterior and interior views of a selection of ecclesiastical buildings in and around Chicago. Most of these photos are contemporary though there are a few historic images. The final series, Miscellaneous, contains a printed poster map of Presbyterian congregations in the Chicago metro area as well as proofs for Inspired Partnerships promotional brochures.

SERIES I: DRAWINGS. Organized alphabetically by municipality, then alphabetically by project name. Unidentified buildings are at the end of the series.

SERIES II: PHOTOGRAPHS. Arranged alphabetically by project name.

SERIES III: MISCELLANEOUS.

• NamesInspired Partnerships.
• Subject
  • Church Architecture--Illinois.
  • Church Buildings--Illinois.
  • Nonprofit organizations--Illinois--Chicago.

c.

Flatf.

n.d.

(A)

Portf.

This collection may be accessed by users in the Reading Room of the Ryerson and Burnham Libraries at The Art Institute of Chicago. Collections maintained on-site are available for patron use without prior arrangement or appointment. Collections maintained in off-site storage will be retrieved with advance notification; please consult the Archivist for the current retrieval schedule. For further information, consult https://www.artic.edu/archival-collections/contact-usage-and-faq.

The Art Institute of Chicago is providing access to the materials in the Archives’ collections solely for noncommercial educational and research purposes. The unauthorized use, including, but not limited to, publication of the materials without the prior written permission of the Art Institute is strictly prohibited. All inquiries regarding permission to publish should be submitted in writing to the Director, Art Institute of Chicago Archives. In addition to permission from the Art Institute, permission of the copyright owner (if not the Art Institute) and/or any holder of other rights (such as publicity and/or privacy rights) may also be required for reproduction, publication, distribution, and other uses. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of any item and securing any necessary permissions rests with the persons desiring to publish the item. The Art Institute makes no warranties as to the accuracy of the materials or their fitness for a particular purpose.

Inspired Partnerships Collection, Ryerson and Burnham Art and Architecture Archives, The Art Institute of Chicago.

The collection was a gift from Inspired Partnerships to the Ryerson and Burnham Archives in 2003.

This collection was processed by Nathaniel Parks in 2007.