Staff

Patti Swanson

Founder, organizer, chief tour guide, designer, etc.
Patti Swanson is an architectural historian, educator, preservation enthusiast, and bookmaker living in Chicago. Raised near Austin, Texas, Patti came to Chicago in 2011 to pursue a degree in art history at School of the Art Institute of Chicago and stayed for the city's rich history, friendly people, and balmy winters. She worked as a tour guide for four years in various capacities before starting Chicago for Chicagoans in 2016. Patti factors lots of local collaboration into her tours and strongly believes in making history inclusive & accessible to everyone. She is best described as "Shazam for buildings," and is a proud Candidate Member of the CTPA!

Elisabeth AdElMan

Marketing & Community Intern
Elisabeth received her BFA in Studio Art at Florida State University. Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, she moved to Chicago in May 2015, having never experienced snow before. Her most recent artwork explores her internalization of pop culture, technology, and femininity through found imagery, and mediums historically categorized as feminine. She is very interested in social media as an extension of oneself, and eating ramen.

Elisabeth handles our business & community partnerships, as well as various marketing & design needs.

Mary CLimes

Design Intern
Mary Climes (aka Murry Klumpz, aka Mary Slimes) is a cartoonist/ comic artist with a BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work mostly revolves around her former home of the Jersey Shore, underage drinking, and her complicated love of Alf. 

Mary handles our Certified History Lover program.

Loren Rosewski

Photographer
Born and raised in Chicago, Loren is a photographer/illustrator who spends most of her time reading, sleeping, and venturing around the city (and seemingly other states). She earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is currently embarking upon graduate programs in Higher Education.

Collaborators

Andie Mckenzie Meadows

Boystown Guest Collaborator
Andie Meadows is a queer femme researcher, photographer and writer. She has a BFA degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2016) and is the founder of radical body positive party series Less is More and co-founder of writing collective The Dining Room. Her work has dealt with topics ranging from language and semiotics, radical collective writing and queer activism. Her current project, Girls in Boystown, examines Women and femininity in Chicago’s Boystown. 

Brittany Meyer

Wicker Park Guest Collaborator
Brittany Meyer is a Chicago based comic, story teller, cat owner, arm wrestler, and queer. Escaping Florida only three years ago, Brittany moved to Chicago in hopes of finding a career and romance. After giving up on that, she turned her attention to stand up comedy and a cat named Lil' Rue McClanahan. Brittany has written for 'The Women in Comedy Festival,' Miss Spoken, and her own office newsletter that she mostly keep to herself. You can see her every month as producer and host of 'Strip Joker,' a new, body positive, comedy showcase at Uptown Underground.

SAM PRESTIGIACOMO

Edgewater Guest Collaborator
Sam Prestigiacomo is an artist and filmmaker from Chicago who lives and works in Edgewater. Her work often incorporates puppetry and is drawn from the stories she collects. Since earning a BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015, Sam has spent time researching local history to inform her art practice and explore her family's roots in the area.

Wendy Bright

Rogers Park Guest Collaborator
Wendy Bright is an architectural historian, writer, and tour guide originally from Milwaukee. She was familiar with and entranced by Chicago all her life, but it took graduate school and an unwieldy collection of Chicago architecture books to dictate her move to her forever home. She’s been leading architectural, historical, and museum tours for over 20 years in Milwaukee, Kentucky, Europe, and now Chicago. Wendy is a docent at the Glessner House Museum in Chicago, the editor of the Chicago Art Deco Society magazine, and currently working on a few book projects. She loves her beachy, buzzing Rogers Park neighborhood and is thrilled to be able to share it with others.

MArgaret Hicks

Printer's Row Guest Collaborator 
Margaret Hicks is a comedian, an author, a tour guide, and a lover of all things Chicago. She's the owner of Chicago Elevated Tours and the official docent for Second City (best gig ever), as well as an active member of the Chicago Professional Tour Guide Association. As an expert on Chicago's Loop area and Pedway, Margaret is excited to share one of her favorite neighborhoods, the so-called "sandbox for skyscapers" that is Printer's Row. 

Amy Weber

Prairie District Guest Collaborator
Amy Weber is a dedicated national and international traveler. She enjoys the challenge of getting on a plane and letting life just happen. With over 15 solo tours under her belt she knows the joys of exploration and finding that something extra that makes the experience spectacular. Being grown up, she now is limited to two weeks of vacation, so exploration around her backyard is her jam-- which she gets many opportunities to do as the Chapter Head of Atlas Obscura's Illinois Obscura Society.

Barry Love

Roscoe Village Guest Collaborator
Barry Love has long ties to Roscoe Village, having been born in the non-extant Ravenswood Hospital. After growing up in the Northwest suburbs, he returned to his roots in 2000, renting in Roscoe Village before buying a condo in the historic Eversharp Pencil Factory building. He currently serves on the board of Roscoe Village Neighbors, and has been treasurer of his 139-unit condo association since 2010. Beyond civic engagement and service, Barry's interests include studying genetic genealogy at the Newberry Library and furniture making at the Chicago School of Woodworking. 

vitaliy vladimirov

Uptown Guest Collaborator
Urban planner, graphic designer, immigrant, and Uptown resident, Vitaliy is a huge fan of Uptown’s incredible, multilayered history. Vitaliy is exploring ways to celebrate Uptown’s diversity through public art and is interested in how the stories we tell about cities shape our perceptions of the built environment. Now finishing a Master’s of Urban Planning from UIC, for his thesis Vitaliy is exploring how to preserve & grow the pan-Asian community centered near Uptown’s Argyle Street. Vitaliy also earned a BFA in Illustration and is a big fan of all things local. In the summer, he’s likely to be found riding bikes along the lake with his husband.

Erica Ruggiero

McKinley Park Guest Collaborator
Born and raised in Florida, Erica received a BS and MS in Interior Design from Florida State University before earning a MS in Historic Preservation at School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014. After graduation, Erica began working at McGuire Igleski & Associates as their architectural historian and is actively involved in Skyline Council of Landmarks Illinois and the Rust Belt Coalition of Young Preservationists. Erica is a passionate advocate for Chicago's industrial heritage (especially in McKinley Park and Chicago’s South Side), and can often be found in her community garden, or curled up with her cat, reading something wonderful about the world of history and architecture.​