Tonika Lewis Johnson is a 2025 MacArthur Fellow, social justice artist, photographer, filmmaker, and cultural organizer whose work challenges segregation and advances community-driven solutions through art, storytelling, and creative placemaking. A lifelong resident of Chicago's South Side neighborhood of Englewood, she creates interdisciplinary projects that expose systemic inequities while inspiring new ways to imagine more equitable communities.
She is the creator of the nationally recognized Folded Map Project, which visualizes the enduring impact of residential segregation by connecting "map twins"—residents living at corresponding addresses on the same street, miles apart, in racially and economically different neighborhoods. Through photography, film, exhibitions, and public engagement, the project has become a national model for arts-based civic dialogue.
Building on that work, Tonika created Inequity for Sale, a public art initiative that uncovers the devastating legacy of Chicago's racist land sale contracts through historical research and large-scale landmarkers installed at homes once sold through these predatory practices. That project directly inspired UnBlocked Englewood, an artist-led creative placemaking initiative that combines home rehabilitation, public art, land reclamation, and community programming to demonstrate how artists can help strengthen neighborhoods and catalyze long-term investment.
In 2024, Tonika co-authored Don't Go: Stories of Segregation and How to Disrupt It with Dr. Maria Krysan. Inspired by the Folded Map Project, the book shares the stories of 25 Chicagoans who have either heard—or directly given—the warning, "Don't go," when referring to Chicago's predominantly Black South and West Side neighborhoods, examining how these narratives reinforce segregation while offering pathways toward change.
Her work has been exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center, Loyola University Museum of Art, and the Gordon Parks Foundation Gallery in New York, where she presented her first solo exhibition following her 2024 Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship.
Tonika's honors include the 2025 MacArthur Fellowship, the University of Chicago Institute of Politics Pritzker Fellowship, the Gordon Parks Foundation Fellowship, the Landmarks Illinois Influencer Award, recognition as one of Chicago Magazine's Chicagoans of the Year, and selection as one of Architect Magazine's 2022 Game Changers. In 2023, she was an Ateliers Médicis Artist in Residence in Paris.
Tonika is the co-founder of Englewood Arts Collective and the Creative Executive Officer of Folded Map Project, NFP, where she leads initiatives that use art, education, research, and storytelling to challenge segregation and advance spatial justice. She also serves on the boards of FirstRepair and the Investigative Project on Race and Equity.
Through photography, film, public art, research, and community collaboration, Tonika demonstrates how artists can reclaim history, reshape public narratives, influence public policy, and build more just futures.
