Memory Museum -
a collaborative space dedicated to a school
community in transition

Facing a massive wave of gentrification and redevelopment on the near north side of Chicago, the Cabrini Green Public Housing Community braces itself for an all-encompassing socioeconomic transition. A poignant indicator of this transition is the demolition of Jenner School scheduled to take place in the summer of 2000, while the "new" Jenner School prepares to open its doors in August. This new school, a jewel in the eye of the Chicago Board of Education and the North Shore, sits on a site that was made ready by the prophetic demolition of high rise buildings.

Memory Museum is a work of installation art conceived in an attempt to embody the sense of loss and hope in the students at Jenner School and the community it serves.

Mathias "Spider" Schergen created this installation with his students during the final days of the old Jenner Elementary School