Chicago Lost and Found is a grass-roots organization to help fill a void. Creative programs continue to disappear and budgets for the arts are cut every day. We believe it’s imperative to reverse these actions. Creativity is the very source of our lives. Look around you right now, creativity is essential for living. Chicago Lost and Found does our part by using the junk most people throw away.

“Where most people see trash, we see beauty.”

As the target for bullying growing up, founder Mitchell Pennell was the fat kid interested in art, music, theatre and anything else that wasn’t cool. His only escape from torture was creativity.  As an adult, Mitchell realize his freedom to create possibly saved him from alternate scenarios too often ending in tragedy.

Chicago Lost and Found’s sole mission is to provide an outlet for anyone in similar situations. For Mitchell, creativity provides freedom and  he’s on a mission to share that opportunity.

Even the smallest gift is powerful and you can help right now. For the price of a cup of coffee, you become part of our mission. Consider this; if everyone reading this paragraph responds

with a minimal contribution of $5.00, $10.00, or even $20.00, collectively you have the power to provide monumental funding for our purpose. Unlike some organizations, we don’t operate with huge overhead in salaries or administration costs. Your dollars directly fund hands-on art education and provide jobs for teachers and artists as well as clean up the world.

You are doing a wonderful thing to encourage and share creativity.

In a Nutshell

The Mission: Chicago Lost and Found provides art education and facilitates creative experiences by re-purposing discarded materials. We infuse value through transformation to validate, inspire and serve the community.

The “Focus-4” of Chicago Lost and Found:

• Collection: We rescue what is considered worthless materials or “junk” from a variety of resources including alleys, dumpsters, construction and demo sites, attics and basements.
• Creation:The collected medium is re-imagined by artists in our studio creating works of art, home and personal accessories and decorative objects.
• Distribution: The art pieces are sold in a variety of outlets including our website, Chicago Lost and Found fund-raising events and commissioned installations.
• Contribution: Proceeds from sales combined with other funding sources support our primary mission of art education. Classes, workshops and a variety of programs are designed to meet the agenda for outlets where there is a need for creative programming.

Donate today!