Stockyard Institute is an ongoing civic, artistic, and social practice project founded in 1995 by artist Jim Duignan in the Back of the Yards community of south Chicago. Duignan was influenced early by local activists and neighborhood artists, composers  and poets, artist collectives, and teachers whose pedagogical approaches aligned with the issues of the community. Stockyard Institute works deep inside Chicago communities on cooperative and shared ideas built from long term relationships through platforms ranging from small watt radio stations, publications, residencies, architectural interventions and built spaces, to curricular models, community performances, city wide programs, and public art.

Thank you to the Weitz family and the Tzeng family for their essential and collaborative commitment to the Stockyard Institute. This commitment includes extraordinary gifts of support for the work, the seamless integration of materials, approaches, and opportunities with the Visual Art Education Program at DePaul University, as well as, the Learning Studio, a joint initiative with the DePaul Art Museum.