Things We Carry
Things We Carry: What We Carry, What We Share, How We Connect
Date: October 3, 2026
Time: 1:00-8:00PM (CST)
Location: Evanston, IL
Attendees: Families, children
On October 3, something we had been imagining all summer finally came to life.
Things We Carry: The Memories, Feelings & Stories That Connect Us opened at Gallery 901 in Evanston as an intergenerational art exhibition featuring four enormous collaborative canvases created by more than 200 young artists.
But the opening became so much more than a chance to see the artwork.
It became a chance to experience connection in action.
We were moved to see so many people show up, engage with the art, listen to the stories, and—perhaps most of all—adore our young docents.
The young artists became the storytellers.
Our young docents were the stars of the show. They welcomed guests, talked about the artwork, shared what they remembered from creating it, and helped adults see the exhibition through their eyes.
Their voices were joined by parents from our Family Art Club, social workers, park supervisors, and other community members who shared authentic stories about the importance of creating spaces where feelings, grief, memory, and connection can be explored.
The gallery was filled with conversation, curiosity, laughter, reflection, and a sense that this is something we can all be part of.
When words are hard to find, art can open a door.
More than 200 young people came together to explore feelings, memories, treasured things, stories, and connection through collaborative artmaking.
Each canvas became a record of children making meaning together—and finding ways to express things that aren’t always easy to say.
Then the invitation expanded.
Guests could draw expressions on mirrors, create a clay sculpture of something they treasure, add to the Grief Link Chain, honor someone they miss, and find other ways to add their own mark.
Don’t just look. Add your mark.
That invitation is at the heart of what we believe at Rooster & Hen Resources.
Art and storytelling aren’t simply the program. They are a pathway—a way to make conversations about feelings, loss, memory, and change feel more natural, approachable, and accessible.
We practice connection before crisis.
Things We Carry reminded us that we don’t have to wait for a crisis to begin talking about the things we carry.
We can practice listening now.
We can make space for feelings now.
We can share stories now.
We can build relationships now.
Because when life gets hard, we are better equipped to walk alongside one another when we have already practiced connection.
We all carry things—visible and invisible. And we don’t have to carry everything alone.
Things We Carry remains on view at Gallery 901 through November and will be included on the First Saturday gallery map through Evanston Made.