BandWith Chicago

BandWith is a Chicago-based non-profit whose mission is to promote wellness for underserved Chicago communities through access to high quality performing arts programs. Founded in 2013 in response to CPS cuts to music programs, BandWith provides free music and dance education to students from dozens of West Side grade schools and high schools. After 13 years operating out of Marillac St. Vincent Family Services in East Garfield Park, the organization pounced on a chance to purchase a vacant single-story industrial building one block away, most recently in use as a casket factory, and retrofit it as a brand new performing arts center. Designed by Chicago-based LJC Design & Engineering, BandWith's new home is a painstakingly renovated facility that harnesses the virtues of the existing structure, including heavy timber framing and massive industrial skylights, and layers on minimalist architectural interventions such as polished concrete floors, slight steel columns, acoustical treatments, and flexible seating. New spaces inserted into this volume include a music library, recording studio, and a variety of practice spaces and offices.