WEST GARFIELD PARK — When artist Camila Vick tried to produce her music in a professional setting, she found the recording studio industry in Chicago was expensive and made up predominately of white men.

In response, Vick created The BlkRoom, a co-working and creator space in Garfield Park that caters to Black creatives and artists.

The BlkRoom, 4015 W. Carroll Ave., allows its members to work in the space, host performances, lead events or record an album or podcast. Now in its fourth year in existence, the BlkRoom has recently expanded its offerings to include an artist-in-residency program for Black women creatives.

It’s all in the service of giving West Side creatives an accessible way to elevate their work, Vick said.

The BlkRoom “started with needing a space to rehearse and record,” Vick said. “It’s been exciting to have new community members and members through our program come in and want to engage in different artistic mediums. I’m super excited we can really represent the West Side because [The BlkRoom] is very out west.”

Growing up near Central Avenue and Lake Street, Vick started making music when she was 10 and was in local recording studios by 13. Now a 24-year-old jazz vocalist, writer, visual artist and filmmaker, Vick said she learned at a young age that recording studios were not very accessible for creatives like herself.

Recording studio rates vary largely throughout the city, and they can be pricey for young musicians, Vick said. Other recording studios can charge $75 or more per hour.

Between navigating the cost to record and microaggressions from the mostly white management, Vick decided she wanted to make a safe space for women and creators of color looking to record.

At the BlkRoom, recording studio space is included in monthly membership fees of $100-$300.

“It’s interesting to navigate those spaces, whether it’s jazz or studio work, as a visual artist, a filmmaker, a woman, as a Black person, as an Indigenous person, it’s all these barriers,” Vick said. “There are a lot of white-dominated spaces, but hopefully people can come in here and feel like we can have those complex conversations within our communities first — a non-white-centered space.”

The BlkRoom started in 2021, with Vick initially renting a space at 355 N. Laflin St. on the Near West Side. Operating as a membership-based entity, artists would each pay toward a shared artist studio where they did not need their own equipment and could support each other through a shared creative community, Vick said. Someone looking to start a podcast, brainstorm an album, record a track or host a performance could use the space and the insights of the community as needed.

In 2023, the space moved to its current location in Garfield Park, offering a larger footprint and expanded programs.

The facility is inside a Garfield Park industrial property with other tenants, including the Chicago Tool Library. The nearly 2,000-square-foot maker space suite and attached facilities includes a recording studio, a lounge area that doubles as a podcasting set, community library, art exhibit and soon a garden.

The space, doubling as an event venue, has hosted community workshops, artists talks, concerts and, last month, an inaugural gala fundraiser.

One of Vick’s musical role models, musician and composer Angel Bat Dawid, teamed up with Vick to offer opportunities to empower local Black women musicians. A United States Artists fellow for 2025, Dawid used funds from her fellowship to start The Bloom Residency at the BlkRoom.

The opportunity was made to foster career growth and community for Black women artists, allowing them to delve “into their work through the unique lens of their experiences with Black womanhood, fostering a deep exploration of identity, creativity and expression,” according to the space’s website.

“The BlkRoom already has a model that could bless somebody, just [by] having a membership. The idea was that I would love to sponsor what’s happening here,” Dawid said. “I just sponsored a Black woman to have a year membership with all the amenities that come with being at The BlkRoom, plus support in anything that she needs. It’s not that we can answer all the problems, but we can try.”

The inaugural Bloom artist in residence is Eva Supreme, a vocalist and storyteller from North Lawndale. Supreme was hand-picked by Dawid, with following residents to be selected through an application process. In addition to helping her creative process through allowing her to use the space for rehearsals and jam sessions, Supreme is leading programs at The BlkRoom.

Grant Party is the space’s leading program series, where creatives come together for a monthly workshop series where they can learn how to apply for grants and get feedback and tips on the grant-writing and application process.

“One of the really big problem areas that I think artists and creatives deal with no matter your medium is funding and finding funding, being able to apply for grants, fellowships and partnerships,” Supreme said. “We come together and sit down to work on these grants together in real time.”

In addition to the amenities offered by the space, the BlkRoom includes gallery space where West Side creatives can showcase their work.

The inaugural gallery, “Echoes of Home,” features photos from West Side photographer Kenn Cook Jr. The gallery is described by Cook as “a focused glimpse into the lives and landscape of Chicago’s West Side,” using images from Cook’s upcoming photobook, “From The Westside, With Love.”

For more information on The BlkRoom and how to get involved, visit its website.

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