MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON AND ELECTED OFFICIALS HELP UNVEIL REDESIGNED ENGLEWOOD VILLAGE PLAZA

Photo Credit: Tafari Melisizwe, The Indigenous Lens
Photo Credit: Tafari Melisizwe, The Indigenous Lens

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON AND ELECTED OFFICIALS HELP UNVEIL REDESIGNED ENGLEWOOD VILLAGE PLAZA 

Community Residents Kick-off Englewood’s Marketplace with Local Vendors

(CHICAGO, IL) – Grow Greater Englewood unveiled the 5th Annual Englewood Village Market at the redesigned Englewood Village Plaza on Saturday, June 22. The dedication ceremony took place on a former vacant lot on the southwest corner of 58th and Halsted Streets, which now serves as the main entry point along the proposed Englewood Nature Trail.

A special ceremony commemorating the village plaza began with an introduction by Grow Greater Englewood’s Executive Director, Anton Seals, Jr., and included Mayor Brandon Johnson, who commended community organizers, saying, “I’m thrilled to see Englewood’s Black-owned businesses, artists, and the people represented here today that are uplifting this market in a season in which our people need it. I’m honored to be at the 5th Annual Englewood Village Market.”

Other elected officials in attendance included Ald. Stephanie D. Coleman (16th Ward) and Illinois State Rep. Sonya Harper (6th District), along with Cecile DeMello, Team Englewood Executive Director.

Hosted on select Saturdays from June through October, the Englewood Village Market connects residents with food and goods from local businesses, low-cost fresh produce (SNAP/EBT accepted), kids activities and family fun, community resources, and a rotation of featured programming. All market activities at the Plaza are rooted in Black culinary and land traditions.

Each market features local DJs and musical performances to highlight the dynamism of Chicago’s music culture. Performances at the June 22 market included a “Drums for Peace” drum circle led by the world-renowned jazz great Ernest Dawkins.

The redesigned plaza features a prefabricated vertical farming shipping container, communally known as The Ag Pod, designed by Freight Farms. Through a partnership with ComEd and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the installation of this farm brings a third urban farming strategy to the Plaza, in addition to the raised bed Community Garden and inground growing practices currently on site. This farm will grow food year-round and will be part of an expanding network of urban farms and institutions across the nation that are exploring the impacts of indoor vertical farming.

The Englewood Village Market will be open on the remaining dates in 2024:


Sat, June 29, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sat, July 13, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sat, July 27, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sat, August 10, 2024 (Senior Day at the Englewood Village Market)

Sat, August 24, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sun, September 8, 2024 (Englewood Village Market at the Chicago Urban Ag Crawl Night Bazaar)

Sat, September 14, 2024 (Englewood Village Market at the Englewood Music Fest)

Sat, September 21, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sat, October 5, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Sat, October 19, 2024: 9 a.m.–1 p.m.


Grow Greater Englewood was funded in part with contributions by Illinois State Rep. Sonya M. Harper, Builders Initiative, Food:Land:Opportunity (FLO), Margot And Thomas Pritzker Family Foundation, Kataly Foundation, Bezos Earth Fund, LISC Chicago, The Solutions Project, and MacArthur Foundation.

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