Lettering Works x Chicago History Museum - Polish Chicago Artist Collection
About the Back Home: Polish Chicago Exhibit
Taken from the Chicago History Museum’s website:
“Through the lens of Chicago’s Polish communities, experience the journeys immigrants have taken to get to the city, the ways they have established themselves in its neighborhoods, and the duality of feeling a deep connection to two places at once.
Back Home: Polish Chicago features more than 90 artifacts and documents as well as more than 100 reproduced photographs to help tell the story of the Chicago area’s vibrant Polish communities from the mid-1800s to today. Explore personal narratives, music, community involvement, as well as art installations from five local Polish artists.
Guided tours of Back Home: Polish Chicago are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information, visit chicagohistory.org/grouptours.
This exhibition is a collaborative project and oral history initiative with the Polish History Museum (Warsaw, Poland), Polish Museum of America, and Loyola University Chicago Polish Studies program.”
Back Home: Polish Chicago opens on May 20th, 2023 and the exhibit is included in general admission. Buy your ticket here.
Custom Designs That Reflect Polish Chicago Culture
The buyers at the Chicago History Museum tasked Lettering Works with developing a small collection of custom Polish Chicago inspired designs to translate the themes of the exhibit into merchandise for the gift shop. Lynn, a Polish Chicagoan who works in the gift shop, shared her insights and helped us bring the collection together. We created a reimagined version of our popular Chicago flag design with a Polish spin as well as explored a handful of iconic Polish foods that are popular in Chicago.
A CLOSER look at the designs:
Polish Dill Pickles
Must Love Paczki
Chicago Polish Dog
Red Borscht Soup
Polish Chicago Flag
Inside the Gift Shop
Chances are you will see Julie or Lynn working when you visit the Chicago History Museum’s gift shop. They are both lovely humans and are always happy to help you find something unique in the shop.
When Julie’s not at the Chicago History Museum, they can be found throwing pottery and working as an artist. You can follow Julie on Instagram here. A special thank you, again, to Lynn for her help with creative ideas that influenced this collection.
Be sure to say hi to them when you visit the exhibit and gift shop!
Julie (left) and Lynn (right) are some of the friendliest gift shop staff around!
A closer look at the designs in their new home…
The Chicago History Museum’s gift shop is known for its wide array of gifts for Chicago lovers. They take pride in offering locally sourced items and Chicago-themed gifts. Shop online here. Your purchases help the museum work to preserve and share Chicago’s fascinating stories.
Design Outtakes
Not every design can make the cut. Here are some outtakes that we still love. A handful of these were inspired by Chelsie’s favorite dishes at Staropolska, a wonderfully authentic Polish restaurant in the Avondale neighborhood on the city’s northwest side.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Chelsie Tamms is an artist, educator, and entrepreneur. She founded Lettering Works in 2016, combining her love of hand-lettering with her expertise in marketing. Since then, she’s grown her business to offer custom branding packages, courses for artists, and wholesale products and merchandise—all with the mission to bring more creativity into her community and beyond. She is especially drawn to cause-driven projects surrounding mental health, chronic illness, and underrepresented communities.
