Transit Station Activations in Rogers Park, Woodlawn bring live music, pop-up plant-based festival for riders to enjoy

In May, the RTA announced more than $120,000 in funding for eight Transit Station Activation projects near CTA, Metra, and Pace stations and stops. The projects bring activities near transit, create a welcoming environment, and help address real or perceived public safety issues. The Transit Station Activation grant program was launched following the RTA Public Transit Safety and Security Summit in February 2024. The Summit brought together nearly 80 riders, transit professionals, and stakeholders to explore holistic solutions to the safety issues the transit system is facing.

In September, two Transit Station Activations took place—one on the North Side of Chicago and the other on the South Side.

Mandala South Asian Performing Arts live music in Rogers Park

On Thursday, September 26, commuters passing through the Morse Red Line station in Rogers Park enjoyed live music programmed by Mandala Arts, a South Asian performing arts organization.

The goal of the performance was to “reflect the unique cultural identity of the neighborhood and the diversity of the City of Chicago,” according to Mandala Arts’ Transit Station Activation grant application. The one-day event was meant to help riders become acquainted with the neighborhoods they pass by in their local community, to allow locals to appreciate the vibrant diversity of the city they live in, and to help commuters feel safer about gathering at the CTA stations.

Woodlawn Plant-Based Festival

Presented by Lillian Augusta Beauty, Gardeneers, Paragon Aromatics, and Chicago Grows Food, the Woodlawn Plant-Based Festival took place on Saturday, September 28, near the Cottage Grove Green Line station. The free community event featured food, music, games, gardening, face painting, and plant-based vendors.

CEO of Lillian Augusta Beauty Jannice Newson, who previously worked for the equitable transit-oriented development (eTOD) advocacy organization Elevated Chicago, said she launched her environmentally friendly hair care company in 2019 and moved it into an eTOD storefront by the Cottage Grove Green Line station. When she heard about RTA’s Transit Station Activation program, she was ready to jump onboard to organize a plant-based festival.

Through a variety of activities, presentations, and demonstrations, the festival educated attendees about the benefits of plant-based living and sustainable practices. It featured interactive workshops like hands-on gardening sessions, a vendor marketplace of plant-based products and local artisan goods for sale, a DJ, and more.

“As a transit rider, seeing people purposefully gathering near bus and rail stops makes me feel like I am somewhere instead of nowhere,” Newson said. “I hope that this event serves as a reminder that transit served locations should not be devoid of life or scary to pass through.”

In July, the first Transit Station Activation launched: weekly yoga in Uptown along the CTA’s #36 bus route, which runs every Friday through the year from 11 a.m. to noon. In August, activations took place near the Loyola Red Line station and in Joliet.

The next Transit Station Activation is another iteration of the Rogers Park Business Alliance’s Summer on the Plaza. It will take place from 6-8 p.m. on Friday, October 4, at the Loyola Red Line station plaza and will feature live music and refreshments.

Then, in late October, Chicago Film Archives will launch a new home movies collection projected onto the street-level mezzanine of the Cicero Green Line station. And this fall, the Maywood Chamber of Commerce will host a one-day cultural festival centered on the Maywood Metra station along with nearby Pace bus service on 5th Avenue. As the final station activation of the year, Metra will host a Harvest Fest on November 2 from noon to 3 p.m. to celebrate the completion of the 147th Street station reconstruction project on the Metra Electric Line in Harvey.

Learn more about this year’s other Transit Station Activation projects.