Comedian · Course
The Second City
The legendary comedy school where you write, workshop, and perform your own stand-up material.
Chicago, IL
Explore the craftMake a little time for
Chicago.
33 real places across 33 crafts. Classes, workshops and people worth meeting.
See every place in Chicago →A few places to begin
Pull up a chair.
Circus Acrobat · Course
The Actors Gymnasium
Intensive circus theatre training in acrobatics and clown; a serious route toward performing professionally.
Evanston, IL
Explore the craft
Potter · Course
Chicago Ceramic Center
Sit down at the wheel for six weeks and learn to center clay and throw your first bowls at this welcoming north-side studio.
Chicago, IL
Explore the craftPhotographs show the crafts. They are not portraits of the listed studios.
Every place in Chicago
Comedian
Among HumansA microphone, a dark room, and one person betting they can make strangers laugh tonight.
Circus Acrobat
Among HumansNo net, no retake, one body defying gravity while a room holds its breath.
Potter
Human AuthorshipA wheel, some mud, a teacher's hands over yours. Two hours where your phone doesn't matter.
Glassblower
Human AuthorshipA breath, held inside molten glass, kept forever.
Bladesmith
Human AuthorshipFire, hammer, and a person who can feel, through the steel, the moment it is ready.
Letterpress Printer
Human AuthorshipInk, metal, and pressure. A page you can feel with your fingertips, made by a person.
Tour Guide
Among HumansA city has a thousand doors. They know which ones open.
Line Cook
Human AuthorshipA hot kitchen, twelve tickets, a plate that tastes like a place.
Beekeeper
Trust & JudgmentTens of thousands of lives in one box, and a person who tends them without ever giving an order.
Carpenter
Body & PresenceThe corners you trust with your home.
Weaver
Human AuthorshipThread by thread, on a loom older than the machine age, a person makes cloth mean something.
Barista
Body & PresenceYour name, your usual, and ninety seconds of care poured slowly.
Florist
Human AuthorshipSomeone who translates what you couldn't say into stems and color.
Gardener
Body & PresenceSomeone who thinks in seasons and kneels to work in one.
Jeweler
Human AuthorshipMetal and fire and a magnifier, turned into the thing you will wear for fifty years.
Stained-Glass Artist
Human AuthorshipCut glass and lead and light, joined by hand into a window that paints the floor in color.
Tiler
Body & PresenceA tiler turns a bare floor into a surface that looks effortless and lasts for decades.
Pianist
Among HumansEighty-eight keys, ten fingers, and a person deciding in the moment how loud the quiet part should be.
Mosaic Artist
Human AuthorshipThousands of small broken pieces, placed one by one, until a picture rises that no single tile could ever be.
Stilt Walker
Among HumansA performer who steps up into the air and turns an ordinary street into a wonder.
Painter
Human AuthorshipA person stands before a blank canvas and decides, stroke by stroke, what deserves to be seen.
Printmaker
Human AuthorshipInk, a screen, a steady pull, and one image becomes a hundred, each pressed by hand.
Silversmith
Human AuthorshipA silversmith raises a flat sheet into a vessel, one measured hammer blow at a time.
Soap Maker
Human AuthorshipOils, water, and a careful measure of lye, stirred by hand into something that leaves your skin softer than it found it.
Brewer
Human AuthorshipGrain, water, hops and yeast, tended by someone who knows when to trust the tank and when to taste.
Bicycle Mechanic
Body & PresenceThe person who sends you back out on a bike that feels brand new.
Esthetician
Body & PresenceSkilled, unhurried hands that read your skin and leave you feeling cared for.
Violinist
Among HumansOne person, four strings, and a melody that seems to come straight from the chest.
Cellist
Among HumansThe one instrument you hold in your arms like a person, singing in the register of the human voice.
Tap Dancer
Among HumansA dancer who is also the drummer, writing rhythm on the floor with two feet.
Confectioner
Human AuthorshipBoiled sugar caught at exactly the right heartbeat, pulled and shaped into small, bright happiness.
Folk Singer
Among HumansA voice, a few chords, and a room that leans in closer with every verse.
Sausage maker
Human AuthorshipA person seasons, stuffs, and links by hand until humble trimmings become something worth gathering around.
Elsewhere in the atlas