"Every act of creation is also an act of remembering who we are."

Rooted in constructivist and experiential learning theory, the Spiral Studio Method is how The Children’s Gallery Chicago makes meaning with and for youth. 

Django Paris and H. Samy Alim’s Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, and bell hooks, who saw education as liberation and dialogue as essential, we engage young people not as passive recipients of knowledge but as artists, organizers, and truth-tellers. This method centers inquiry, collective action, community voice, and dialogue as the foundation for creative and social transformation, while honoring the lived experiences and identities of young people.

From the Reggio Emilia approach, we borrow a deep respect for children as capable, curious, and full of potential. Art becomes a shared language — one of many ways young people express understanding, explore identity, and communicate with the world.

Our methodology also draws from Design Thinking in Education, particularly Stanford’s d.school and IDEO, engaging youth in iterative, collaborative processes that emphasize empathy, experimentation, and creative problem-solving. These practices naturally support social-emotional learning, helping young people build resilience, self-awareness, and meaningful connections with others.

At the structural level, the method spirals outward from Jerome Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum, returning to core ideas again and again with increasing complexity and personal relevance. This spiraling structure mirrors the creative process itself: nonlinear, layered, and evolving.

Finally, we ground our practice in the liberatory teachings of bell hooks, who reminds us that education can be an act of love, dialogue, and freedom. In our studios, we engage young people as artists, storytellers, and meaning-makers — co-authors of the culture they inhabit. Inquiry, choice, and reflection are our cornerstones, nurturing critical thinking and creative literacy in every session.

But the Spiral Studio Method doesn’t live only in classrooms or theory. It moves through our Art in Motion pop-ups, where public spaces become temporary studios of belonging. It takes shape in our Youth Leadership program, where teens learn to design, facilitate, and reflect on art experiences for their peers. Each pop-up, each mural, each workshop becomes part of the spiral: a living experiment in how creativity builds confidence, community, and collective care. In this way, the Spiral Studio Method is more than a framework — it’s a rhythm. One that loops between making and meaning, self and society, reflection and action. A method always in motion, always expanding outward.