YWCA EVANSTON | NORTH SHORE

CHICAGO CHAPTER — EVANSTON, IL

Big Picture

In 2024, PCC was introduced to the YWCA, and together with our Project Color Corps Chicago Chapter, we entered an exciting collaboration with the YWCA Evanston-North Shore on an exterior wall for their brand-new center.

The YWCA Evanston/North Shore is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, advocating for social justice, and strengthening local communities. YWCA E/NS serves more than 8,000 people annually in northeastern Cook County through its Domestic Violence, Equity Institute, Economic Advancement, and Flying Fish Aquatics programs.

The power of this design transformation has inspired our team, and we hope this initial partnership will grow into a multi-city collaboration.

We are deeply grateful to Cherese Ledet, Erin Venable & Mindy Scott, the entire YWCA Evanston/North Shore team, and the community of families and supporters for their whole-hearted embrace of our collaboration and partnership.

“The mural, for me, represents the light breaking through the darkness; the light our survivors hold onto, and the light we strive to nurture every day. It's a bold, beautiful welcome that says: you belong here, you are seen, and you are centered in our work.

I love the way the community came together, sharing in the same space, for one purpose - bring the YWCA Evanston/North Shore's mural to life!

The mural is so vibrant and full of joy, a result of the love that was poured into it.”

—Cherese R. Ledet
(she,her,hers)
President & CEO

A Conversation About Color

Leveraging the new center’s contemporary design and blank canvas, we seized a crucial place-making opportunity. Our design serves as a wayfinder, clearly identifying the YWCA center and ensuring the community feels welcomed and safe.

Project Color Corps engaged the YWCA Community in color seminars. Through these interactive sessions, community participants explored the transformative power of color and its impact on emotions and well-being. To further understand their aspirations for the YWCA, the project team administered surveys asking how the community wanted to feel upon entering the building. Participants shared their favorite colors, the emotions these colors evoked, and their desired emotional state when arriving at the Y.

During the Color Seminar & Community Survey, words like safe, supportive, welcome, connected, calm, buoyant stood out as clues for the embrace the YWCA creates for this community.

“I feel joy and pride when I see the mural. Arriving in the parking lot for work, I am welcomed by a reminder of who we serve and why I am here – to eliminate racism and empower women, but I am also reminded that I am not alone in this fight. We all make up a piece of the puzzle and the joy as well as the reminder of my passion for this work is a welcome addition to our building.”

—Mindy Scott
(she,her,hers)
Vice President of Development and Impact

The Transformation

Working with Interior Architecture (IA) and designer Andrea Benatar, the IA team presented the following design brief,

YWCA: A SUM OF ITS PARTS:

Celebrate the collective power of the YWCA community, and honor the strength, diversity, and unity that emerges when individual voices come together. A visual reminder that each person is a powerful part of a greater whole.

Two color palettes were developed: BUOYANT STRONG and BELOVED WELCOME. The winning palette was BUOYANT STRONG.

BELOVED WELCOME

BUOYANT STRONG

“The mural to me represents acceptance and unity. Feeling freedom and peace. Most of us know pain and suffering. For decades oppression has tried to destroy a person’s spirit. Every day when I arrive at work, the mural reminds me to carry my nationality and skin tone with pride, and to continue empowering the families I serve to obtain their life desires. For eternity grateful with Project COLOR CORPS team.”

—Cherese R. Ledet
(she,her,hers)
President & CEO