On September 9, the 61st Street Farmers Market marked the highest Link sales, Link transactions, and Link Match redemption in its 16-year history. That same month, the Market also saw record breaking attendance levels, with over 2,200 customers in one day.

In March, Experimental Station launched Link Match at One Stop Foods, a local institution that has served the North Kenwood/Bronzeville neighborhood for over 53 years.

Since the foundation and throughout 2023, Experimental Station has been a critical asset for cultural practitioners on the South Side, providing free and discounted space for artists, videographers, choreographers, musicians, theater actors, and community groups to rehearse, perform, and meet.

Since 2012, Experimental Station has partnered with the City of Chicago to address the lack of access to healthy food on Chicago’s south and west sides. Labeled ‘food deserts,’ these areas of the city have long struggled to attract grocery store investors. One remedy to this problem was for the City to create farmers markets in food-insecure neighborhoods.

Whether through a supermarket or a farmers market, creating a healthy food oasis in a food desert requires long-term investment and cultivation.

For more than a decade, the Experimental Station team has worked to cultivate and grow farmers markets in the Austin, Bronzeville, Garfield Park, West Humboldt Park, and Englewood neighborhoods. Besides accepting Link and offering Link Match at these markets, year after year, the team has done extensive outreach to build relationships between community members and their market.

This year, the Austin Town Hall Farmers Market has especially grown, reaching record vendor participation. With fresh produce and market management now provided by Forty Acres, and with the participation of small local businesses, the Austin market grew to 15 vendors.

Leading the Experimental Station team, Program Manager Raja Baptiste commented, “Farmers markets play an essential role in the development of healthy communities. Providing a space for local business and healthy food options, Austin Town Hall Farmers Market demonstrated their ability to connect with farmers, vendors, and the community this season.”

Blackstone Bicycle Works hosts Open Shops for the community five days a week, ensuring the program remains a community asset. Between August and October, 186 community members have come to Open Shop to learn to repair and refurbish their bikes.

Community members can drop in with their bicycles and use the tools and expertise offered at the workshop. “We want to empower community members with the knowledge, mechanical skills, and tools to repair their own bikes,” said Cody Ciminillo, Blackstone Bicycle Works’ Program Manager.

Leslye Long, a local community member, has been making use of Open Shop and tools to rebuild her bike for the past several weeks, transforming her rusted, unusable bicycle frame into an eye-catching piece of art. “Having the opportunity to learn the intricacies of bike repair for free with amazingly brilliant individuals is a godsend, seriously,” said Leslye about BBW’s Open Shop, “I loved it and will do it again!”

“Seeing a community member develop an idea into something tangible with the assistance we’re providing is a great example of how an open shop connects with and is of service to our neighbors here in Woodlawn," said Aren.

Blackstone Bicycle Works’ mission to build a bicycle community among youth, their families, and the community extends beyond the walls of the shop. “We are trying to build a safer and active bike culture on Chicago’s south side, where we provide free bicycles to youth and families, teach them to make their own repairs, and create a community of riders that can enjoy the freedom of exploring the outdoors," said Aren.

Every Saturday, Aren and Cody lead community bike rides. The routes vary in length and difficulty to meet the skill levels of participants. “Everyone is welcome, young or old, and we have various rides exploring different parts of the city–safe rides to great destinations,” said Cody.

Check for the Open Shop hour.

For 10 years, the hoop house at Jackson Park Terrace (JPT), maintained by the Experimental Station, has been a source of gardening knowledge and fresh vegetables for the residents.

Every Harvest Saturday, the community garden provides freshly harvested vegetables to around 20 residents of the JPT community housing complex in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. This spring and summer, the Experimental Station’s Head Gardener, Lawrence Riley, grew and harvested tomatoes, eggplants, chives, carrots, collards, beets, peppers, and all varieties of herbs in the main garden to distribute to the residents.

This year, Lawrence also helped eight residents grow their own vegetables on individual raised beds.

Among them was Joy Joshua, a resident of JPT. With guidance from Lawrence, the first-year gardener, Joy grew corn, beans, cucumbers, peppers, carrots, cabbage, and tomatoes. Her spring and summer crops have been producing so well that she “almost never” had to shop for vegetables from grocery stores.

“I haven't purchased tomatoes because my tomato plants have been plentiful. And the beans are so good, still producing,” says Joy.

With all the fresh produce Joy gets from her plot and through the Saturday distributions, she has been cooking more than ever and feels healthier. She is now spreading the knowledge to her family, especially her mother.

As part of the mission to promote a healthy eating culture, Experimental Station’s 61st Street Farmers Market offers pop-up events at the hoop house. There, local chefs share their cooking skills using fresh produce from the garden and pass out samples and recipes to the participating residents.

Beyond providing opportunities for residents to learn new recipes or taste new food, the pop-ups are also an opportunity for the JPT community members to connect with each other.

Joyce Butler, a JPT resident who has been gardening at the Hoop House since the program’s start, sees that the past 10 years of sustaining and cultivating the Hoop House garden and growing participation have been essential in keeping community members healthy and connected.