What is the Folded Map Project?
Tonika Lewis Johnson's Folded Map™ Project visually connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on the North and South Sides of Chicago.* She investigates what urban segregation looks like and how it impacts residents. What started as a photographic study quickly evolved into a multimedia exploration with video interviews. The project invites audiences to open a dialogue and question how we are all impacted by social, racial, and institutional conditions that segregate the city. Her goal? To challenge everyone to think about how change may be possible and to contribute to a solution.
Folded Map now has a
FREE curriculum:
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Looking to center your student's experiences in Chicago to understand segregation?
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Want tools to help discuss big systemic issues?
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Looking to share resources with other teachers?
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Watch the movie & get the curriculum for your class, now!
Stream the Movie
Vimeo streaming password: Empathy2020
After watching social justice artist Tonika Johnson’s 30-minute animated movie about her childhood experience with Chicago’s segregation, guide your students through a series of reflections and activities that culminate in an action plan to help disrupt the cycle of segregation in their own lives.
Can’t stream? Click below to download the film for free!
Download & Print -on-Your-Own
Teacher Guide
Packed with online resources for teaching about race, racism, and segregation, as well as ideas for how to extend the Folded Map activities presented in the student guide, the PDF Teacher’s Guide retains the spirit of Folded Map as an art project. It’s not a step-by-step instruction book—it’s a spark, a nudge, and a launching pad. We look forward to where you and your students are moved to take it!
More than 40 links to online resources providing historical context, data, teaching tips, and more!
More than 25 additional ‘extension’ ideas for building on the core activities in the Student Guide
Student Guide
This PDF guide provides questions, activities, information—and a movie!—to help students (middle school to adult) center their own experiences to provide a window into understanding the causes and consequences of Chicago’s segregation. And it all builds up to making a plan to take action.
Over 10 activities to spur connections and deepen understanding
A link to a 30-minute animated Folded Map origin movie
A certificate of completion at the end
2023 "Ideas That Matter" winning design, nationally recognized for projects that 'will make a difference in lives and communities around the world'. •
2023 "Ideas That Matter" winning design, nationally recognized for projects that 'will make a difference in lives and communities around the world'. •
Stay Tuned! Coming Soon.
Teachers, soon you’ll be able to download and upload your own customized documents so we can share together!
Impactful and Timely
“I really like the prompts that ask students to make connections to their own lives. This kind of writing and assessment is more authentic and the personal connection makes the lesson more relevant and impactful.”
— Chris, High School Teacher
“I work in a private, progressive school on the Northshore. The conversations about inequities are centered in what we do, however, the students struggle to put theory into practice or to see how their decisions and actions impact their community as well as those around them. The ideas and concrete components of this project/curriculum, provide a wonderful, real-life opportunity to put our words into action, to get out, be uncomfortable, and make necessary changes.”
— Laura, Middle School Teacher
This opened up my eyes to a lot of perspectives that I didn't think about previously…It was nice to learn about (Tonika’s) background and open up my eyes and my head to new concepts and ideas.. this taught me a lot.
— DePaul College Student