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A Week in the Life of the 61st Street Farmers Market Team
61ST STREET FARMERS MARKET
The 61st Street Farmers Market is about more than fresh produce—it’s about building a healthy food culture in Woodlawn and beyond. But what does that look like in practice?
To answer that, let’s turn to a week in mid-May 2025. Senior Program Manager Emily Cross and her team—Program Assistant Joy Joshua, Market Assistant Adam Stern, and Head Gardener Kelly Jones—were busy bringing food education to life with students at Carnegie Elementary School and maintaining the hoop house garden at Jackson Park Terrace—all while preparing for the first Saturday market of the outdoor season.
Tuesday, May 13:
At Jackson Park Terrace, Kelly and Adam weed, plant, and water at the hoop house, as well as harvest fresh produce for today’s after-school cooking class with Chef Fea. Meanwhile, Emily and Joy prepare ingredients, snacks, and stations with cutting boards, knives, and aprons in the Experimental Station’s kitchen. Soon, the stations are filled with a dozen 4th graders, ready to jump into today’s lesson.
After a reminder about kitchen safety and etiquette, Chef Fea guides students in preparing a spiral zucchini noodle salad. Each student takes on a task: spiralizing zucchini, cucumber, and apple; slicing sweet peppers; and picking herbs for the dressing. Chef Fea explains the nutritional benefits of each ingredient as they work. The kitchen buzzes with excitement as youth work together and discover new flavor combinations.
Wednesday, May 14:
After class preparations at the hoop house, Emily and Joy meet Ms. Davis’s 3rd-grade class, leading the students on a walk to the hoop house for their hands-on Gardening Class. Emily asks if they remember the garden rules and which vegetables they’ve tried before. All race to raise their hands.
The twelve students split into groups: Kelly guides the gherkin planting and watering, Joy oversees the sunflower planting, and Emily leads the basil transplanting inside the hoop house. Excitement peaks when they discover a worm and begin searching for more. The class wraps up with a harvest—strawberries and sorrel—a highlight for students and the team.
Thursday, May 15:
The team kicks off a full day of youth education with another Gardening Class at the hoop house, this time with Ms. Johnson’s large class of 30 3rd-grade students. In the early afternoon, Emily and Joy head back to Carnegie for a Healthy Eating class with Ms. King’s 2nd-grade class. Through interactive lessons, 23 students explore the importance of fruits and vegetables.
The day concludes in Experimental Station’s kitchen with another 4th-grade After-School Cooking Class. Chef Fea guides students through the preparation of another colorful and delicious salad, this time with homemade strawberry balsamic.
Friday, May 16:
Friday is crunch time for Market preparation. First, Emily and the team send out updates to customers about vendors and upcoming activities. Later, she confirms volunteers for tomorrow’s Market. Meanwhile, Adam measures and labels vendor spaces and posts “No Parking” signs along 61st Street and Blackstone Avenue.
Saturday, May 17:
Opening day arrives! Vendors set up along 61st Street and Blackstone Avenue at dawn, with help from Chicago Cares volunteers. By 9 a.m., the Market is already bustling—some visitors grab coffee from Build or Kikwetu, others pick up their weekly produce. While strolling, customers connect with neighbors, friends, and farmers.
Throughout the crowd, Emily and her team check in with vendors, troubleshoot, and ensure the market activities—such as Chef Demo, Market School, and Sprout Station—run smoothly. Market staff are working the Link Match info tent to ensure that Link (SNAP) customers can shop at the Market and are provided with Link Match.
As the day ends, the team packs up tents and equipment, already preparing for next week. For them, it’s not just about running a market—it’s about teaching children, expanding food access, and creating a welcoming space for the South Side community to gather, learn, and grow.
“This is why I do what I do for the kids. To see them light up, try something new, and connect with how their food grows.
—EMILY CROSS, SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER
Note from the Executive Director
Dear friend,
As a cultural organization, Experimental Station poses a fundamental question: What does the cultural project look like in a time when our most urgent problems are not only neglected, but actively denied? When division and discord are stoked instead of soothed? When welcoming a stranger is seen not as a strength, but as a liability?
We reframe the cultural project. Through our programs and place-making initiatives, Experimental Station works to create tangible, positive experiences of change. Whether it’s offering children the exhilarating freedom of riding a bike, giving community members greater confidence in maintaining their own bicycle, helping families access fresh, healthy food and improve their wellbeing, or cultivating spaces where people feel a deep sense of connection and belonging—these are more than just individual successes. They are acts of cultural transformation, contributing to a future where we happily choose a bicycle over a car, an apple over a bag of chips, the farmers market over a supermarket, solidarity over division, compassion over fear.
Looking back at the past year, the changes we have helped bring about—many of which are reflected in these pages— have renewed our energy and deepened our commitment to the work ahead. From further expanding food and bicycle education for children and adults in our community, to creating new opportunities to collaborate with and support the work of community members, to advocating for safe local bicycle infrastructure, to making healthy foods affordable for more Illinoisans and leading a statewide food system planning process for Illinois, Experimental Station is poised for a bold leap forward in the coming year.
These are urgent times. Yet, together we can create the kind of place and future that we want for ourselves, our children, and our community. We hope that you are inspired by the stories and impact shared in these pages—and that you will consider supporting our work. Your contribution, no matter the size, helps us continue to build a more just, connected, and nourishing world—one bike ride, one market, one neighbor at a time.
Sincerely,
Connie Spreen
Growing up in Woodlawn, Chantrel Lee found more than a bike at Blackstone Bicycle Works (BBW)—she found a safe haven.
From 2005 to 2009, Chantrel participated in BBW’s youth program. “It [BBW] became a place where we were welcomed,” she recalls. “We learned to fix bikes, earned our own, and had a place just to be ourselves.”
Now a Resource Coordinator and Victim Advocate with Project H.O.O.D., Chantrel still carries the values she learned at BBW: kindness, responsibility, and a commitment to showing up for her community. “The adults here met us where we were. That kindness stuck with me, and I bring it into my work today.”
Fifteen years later, her son Dre unknowingly followed in her footsteps by joining BBW’s Spring Break Camp in 2024. After wearing out yet another bike, Dre walked into BBW to fix his chain and never looked back. “He’s been obsessed ever since,” Chantrel says with a smile. “He fixes bikes for his friends and brings them to the shop, just like I used to.”
Dre’s passion for tools, wheels, and hands-on learning found the perfect home at BBW. “This is the first extracurricular he’s truly excited about,” Chantrel adds. “It’s helping him grow, and I don’t have to spend a dollar.”
From one generation to the next, BBW continues to offer youth a space to learn, connect, and thrive.
“Every kid needs a bike, and a place like this.”
—Chantrel Lee
From Mother to Son: Chantrel and Dre Lee’s Journey at Blackstone Bicycle Works
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LINK UP ILLINOIS ON THE ROAD: Listening and Learning from Communities
This summer, the Link Up Illinois team hit the road to connect with the heart of our program— the communities we serve. We visited 40+ farmers markets and over a dozen stores across Illinois that implement our Link Match program, listening to the stories of vendors, staff, and Link customers.
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MARKET'S EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES Open the Door to Community Connection
The 61st Street Farmers Market has made significant strides in promoting a healthy food culture within the Jackson Park Terrace (JPT) community, a nearby subsidized housing development.
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BLACKSTONE BICYCLE WORKS: Getting the Community into Gear
Since opening its doors in August 2023, Blackstone Bicycle Works (BBW) has made a significant impact on Chicago's South Side, serving nearly 500 community members and over 400 youth through its cycling programs.
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Leila’s Bike Journey at Blackstone Bicycle Works
“I can ride a bike!” Leila proudly exclaimed as she rode by herself for the first time.
Leila is an outgoing, 16-year-old participant in Blackstone Bicycle Works’ (BBW) Earn-A-Bike summer camp. While many camp participants arrived with some riding experience, Leila didn’t know how to ride a bike. However, the teen challenged herself and could bike within five days of the camp.
“My first time riding a bike was difficult. I wanted to jump right into pedaling. It didn’t work. Bruce [one of the BBW instructors] taught me how to,” Leila shared.
Beyond mastering cycling and learning about bikes, biking has been a way for her to build up her stamina. As she explores her biking pace and speed and understands how to plan her bike ride, she says, “it puts me in a good mindset.”
Eager to learn more about bikes, Leila has been coming back to BBW to attend community classes and bike rides, even volunteering during BBW’s Open Shop to assist patrons in fixing their bikes.
This is the kind of passion that Blackstone Bicycle Works hopes to ignite—a love of both cycling and community involvement.
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A Fruitful Partnership: Experiential Learning at Carnegie Elementary
Ms. Kinds, an educator with over 30 years of experience and a key partner in the 61st Street Farmers Market’s healthy eating and gardening classes, is a testament to a successful partnership between the Market and CPS’ Andrew Carnegie Elementary School.
The Market provides grades 2-5 Carnegie students with in-school gardening, healthy eating, and cooking classes throughout the academic year, teaching the students about a plant’s growing cycle, and how to grow and prepare fresh food.
According to Ms. Kinds, Carnegie School would not be able to offer this type of programming without the partnership with the Market, since “we don’t have extra funds for this. It’s a rare opportunity.” She added, “everything they learn hits a core competency requirement in our CPS required learnings. [...] I am so grateful for it.”
The experiential curriculum the Market offers Carnegie students, Ms. Kinds explains, “makes an impact on our kids in a way other things do not: it gives students and teachers an opportunity to step outside the classroom.” Her students were so excited to go outside to the hoop house garden, “they couldn’t control their enthusiasm for the class!”
The most exciting aspect of this partnership is the opportunity to spark a child’s curiosity in discovering the world around them. “Any little experience could lead to [...] something in the future. You never know what a child will do with that experience,” said Ms. Kinds.
In the coming year, the Market hopes to continue to expand its healthy eating and gardening offerings at Carnegie School, adding K-1 classes as well. “With further resources, there is great opportunity for growth,” said Emily Cross, the 61st Street Farmers Market Senior Manager.
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Building Stronger Communities, One Store at a Time
LINK UP ILLINOIS
The Link Up Illinois program is a beacon of hope in underserved communities. Initially launched by Experimental Station in 2011, Link Up Illinois expanded into brick-and-mortar stores in 2017. Our program has transformed participating stores into more than just places to buy groceries: they have become community hubs, fostering engagement, promoting health initiatives, and creating a sense of belonging.
In the past year alone, Link Up Illinois has experienced remarkable growth, expanding Link Match from 11 stores to 22. Through Link Match, we offer SNAP recipients dollar-for-dollar matching vouchers for fresh fruits and vegetables. This not only increases their purchasing power but also encourages healthier choices.
In September, the Link Up Illinois team conducted comprehensive Link Match training sessions to support the reopening of a Save A Lot grocery store. This store is a vital access point for groceries in the West Garfield Park Community.
One customer, recognizing the significance of the Link Match program at this location, expressed enthusiasm about the value it brings to the community, stating, “I’m so excited, I’m going to tell all my neighbors!
City Markets Taking Root
Experimental Station has played a crucial role in the City’s farmers market program, providing SNAP and Link Match service for as many as 22 City-run markets each year. This service is fundamental to making farmers markets accessible to low-income Chicagoans. What began as a short-term project grew into a 15-year commitment to support markets in neighborhoods with limited food access.
In 2024, after years of providing SNAP support and cultivating relationships with local partners, Experimental Station is excited to see a number of these markets taking root in their communities. This year, for the first time, local community-based organizations are themselves providing SNAP service at the Austin, Bronzeville, Little Village, and Pullman markets, with Experimental Station providing training, technical assistance, and back-end administration.
Experimental Station will work further with these neighborhood partners to enable them to operate their market’s SNAP program independently in future years. This shift aligns with our long-held belief that local organizations are the best stewards of their markets, fostering growth that is deeply rooted in the community.
Experimental Station’s cultural investments include support for the arts in all its forms. In the past year, we were pleased and honored to welcome musicians, local and international visual artists, dancers and choreographers, actors, and archivists.
Cultural Events
A jam session of The Portal, an artist series by Chibrations in partnership with Experimental Station. Photo credit: @seedlynn
Work in Progress Showings: A gathering of artists in the disability community by High Concept Labs
ArtsLink Assembly by CEC Artslink
Sounds Like Jazz, an Experimental Station fundraiser
A conversation with Chicago activists in relation to Court Theater’s production of Antigone.
Business Incubation Residents
Since 2006, Experimental Station has provided discounted long-term rental space and resources to mission-aligned local businesses and journalism institutions.
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Invisible Institute
The Invisible Institute is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism production company. They work to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable.
The Invisible Institute is a former program of Experimental Station.
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South Side Weekly
The South Side Weekly is a nonprofit newsprint magazine dedicated to supporting cultural and civic engagement on the South Side, and to providing educational opportunities for developing journalists, writers, and artists. In 2022, South Side Weekly merged with the Hyde Park Herald, who are now sharing our space.
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Build Coffee
Build Coffee is a coffee shop in the Experimental Station. Surrounded by community-driven nonprofits and civic journalism projects, Build is designed as a hub of great coffee and radical collaboration.
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Civic Projects
Civic Projects, a woman and minority-owned firm, is a hybrid architecture practice in Chicago. Their work includes architecture as well as community and strategic planning, grant writing, and small-scale revitalization.
For the full list of
Grants, Individual Donors, and Foundation Support
November 2023 - October 2024