Norman Teague (born 1968) is an American

social practice Social practice is a theory within psychology that seeks to determine the link between practice and context within social situations. Emphasized as a commitment to change, social practice occurs in two forms: activity and inquiry. Most often a ...

artist, designer, furniture maker, and educator. Teague co-founded the Chicago-based design studio, ''blkHaUs Studios'', and in 2019 went on to form his own ''Norman Teague Design Studios''. In addition to his studio practices Teague currently resides as a professor in the school of industrial design at

University of Illinois Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...

Early life and education

Teague grew up on the South Side of Chicago in Bronzeville, and he is

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. Originally interested in pursuing a career in architecture, Teague attended

Harold Washington College Harold Washington College is a community college, part of the City Colleges of Chicago system of the City of Chicago, in Illinois, United States. It is located in the downtown "Loop" area of the City, near the series of parks along the lakefro ...

. He went to further his studies at

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1890, it has 5,928https://about.colum.edu/effectiveness/pdf/spring-2021-student-profile.pdf students pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergra ...

, but after exposure to wood shop and smaller scale design he pivoted his focus to industrial Design. Teague received an BA degree in product design from Columbia College Chicago in 2014. He then went on to pursue a master's degree in designed objects from

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

, which he received in 2016.

Career

In 2016, Teague co-founded with

Fo Wilson Folayemi "Fo" Debra Wilson is an American Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary artist, designer, and academic administrator. Her practice includes work as a furniture designer and maker, installation artist, muralist, and graphic designer. Wils ...

the design studio ''blkHaUs Studios'' in Chicago. Their work was focused on making public spaces in Chicago more inviting for the public. In 2019, he went on to form his own ''Norman Teague Design Studios''. Teague's work seeks to use design to "empower brown and black communities". He is best known for his furniture, some of which resides in the museum collection of

The Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, and the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

(LACMA). He has also worked in performance art, installation art, and sculpture. Teague has worked with notable collaborators such as

Theaster Gates Theaster Gates (born August 28, 1973) is an American social practice installation artist and a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he still lives and works. Gates' wor ...

, and acted as a consultant on The

Barack Obama Presidential Center The Barack Obama Presidential Center is a planned architectural project in Chicago to commemorate the presidency of Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States. The center will include a museum and library and is headed by the nonprofi ...

with the firm Ralph Applebaum. His work was in the 2021

Chicago Architecture Biennial The Chicago Architecture Biennial is an international exhibition of architectural ideas, projects and displays. It seeks "to provide a platform for groundbreaking architectural projects and spatial experiments that demonstrate how creativity and i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teague, Norman Wikipedia Student Program Living people People from Chicago University of Illinois Chicago faculty Columbia College Chicago alumni School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni African-American designers American furniture designers African-American sculptors 1968 births