Ellen Grimes

Ellen Grimes is a Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) since 2007, specializing in architectural design, environmental justice, and liberatory practices. She serves as faculty adviser to SAIC's chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects and mentors BFA architecture students applying to graduate programs at institutions like Columbia University and Harvard. Her professional experience spans teaching at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, and Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Grenoble, plus guest critiques at US schools. She is currently the Till House Project Director at Blacks in Green, an environmental justice organization, and has collaborated with Bruce Mau Design, Gensler, Garofalo Architects, and Greg Lynn Form on international projects recognized with AIA awards.

Her research interests intersect architecture with environmental justice, African-American land stewardship, urban ecology, and critical pedagogy. She has published in ARENA Journal of Architectural Research, Flat Out, Journal of Architectural Education, and contributed to edited volumes like Building Systems: Design Society Technology. Her work explores liberatory spatial practices, cross-cultural mobility, and the formal implications of informal systems.

Selected Awards:

• Mellon Foundation Grant ($1.2 million) for 'Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley House' (2024)
• National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grant ($150,000) (2022)
• Van Alen Institute Fellowship ($15,000) for 'Public Ecologies' (2008)
• FIPSE Grant ($754,000) for curriculum development (2002-08)

Grimes' projects have been exhibited at institutions including the Chicago Architecture Foundation (2016) and Van Alen Institute (2008), with her BirdFront project (2016) and Public Ecologies solo exhibition (2008) highlighting her design activism and urban ecological work.