Creativity And Community Pride Fills The Air At South Side Shipping Container Mall

Will Jamison, co-founder of Be Creative, Ajai Frazier, operations manager for Be Creative, and Eddie White, co-founder of Be Creative, (left to right) provide on-the-spot screen printing and graphic design services six days a week at Boxville in Bronzeville. Photo credit: Katherine Newman
Will Jamison, co-founder of Be Creative, Ajai Frazier, operations manager for Be Creative, and Eddie White, co-founder of Be Creative, (left to right) provide on-the-spot screen printing and graphic design services six days a week at Boxville in Bronzeville. Photo credit: Katherine Newman

Creativity And Community Pride Fills The Air At South Side Shipping Container Mall

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

For the third summer in a row, local entrepreneurs are setting up shop in brightly colored shipping containers at the corner of 51st Street and South Calumet Avenue. This unique community market in Bronzeville, known as Boxville, brings a wealth of opportunities to the community and provides a platform for entrepreneurs and creative individuals to showcase their ideas.

During their weekly Market Days, every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m., Boxville is filled to the brim with local vendors and residents but one business, in particular, has taken it upon themselves to become a pioneer at Boxville and keep their shipping container open to the public six days a week.

Be Creative, open Tuesday through Sunday, is a one-stop-shop for graphic design and screen printing needs with the entire business operating out of the Makers Box at Boxville.

To put it simply, Be Creative co-founders, Eddie White and Will Jamison, can screen print just about anything on the spot, six days a week, in the Makers Box. Even more than that though, they are offering their creative minds to the public and helping clients bring their branding ideas to life through one-on-one graphic design consultations.

While both White and Jamison acknowledged that they would be doing this work with or without Boxville because it is their passion, they also realize that Boxville is more than just a community market and feel lucky to have space in the shipping container mall.

“Boxville is pretty important to us because we truly have an opportunity to be a pioneer. Nobody technically knows what it looks like to operate a business out of a box and someone’s got to take that chance and we’ve gladly accepted that challenge,” said Jamison. “We want to help grow this neighborhood because there is a lot of rich and healthy heritage and history here that even I don’t know too much about it but I can feel it.”

Be Creative is open Tuesday through Sunday for those who are interested in having t-shirts, hats, bags, table clothes, or anything else screen printed. The team also can help create flyers, business cards, programs, and do start to finish design work for clients who are still struggling to get their ideas organized. Any idea a person might have, Be Creative can help bring it to life.

“There are no limits here. We don’t allow it,” said White. “We’re genuinely here to help and we will talk to you and love you and care about you. All of this has a deeper meaning than just making a graphic or printing up a t-shirt. We care about these people and we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.”

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

STARR Community Services International, Inc.