Sounding Boards

Name

Sounding Boards

Legal name

Sounding Boards

Website

https://soundingboards.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Public Art Services

NAICS

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAHAH

Public Art, Arts Councils & Grantmaking Programs

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

SECONDARYBPAGALAO

Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Enterprises & Impact Organizations

SECONDARYBPAGAHAC

Arts Education & Community Arts Programs

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Arts, Culture & Heritage Nonprofits

Keywords

• Community public art
• Mural installation services
• Nonprofit arts initiative
• BIPOC artist programs
• Community mural projects

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The initiative relies on donations to pay artists stipends covering materials and time. Sponsors from the Architecture and Interior Design industry cover paint supplies and artist commissions. Excess funds go to My Block My Hood My City's Small Business Relief Fund. GoFundMe campaigns support specific projects like the San Diego Outdoor Gallery and Harmony Garden.
2. Merchandise Sales: The organization sells branded merchandise including T-shirts and stickers through their online shop. Products include 'Use Your Voice' T-shirts ($30-$35) and SB Stickers available in single ($3) or 6-pack ($12) formats.
3. Harmony Garden Memorial Bricks: Sale of memorial bricks for the Harmony Garden community space, with proceeds going toward maintenance and upkeep of the space.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sounding Boards is a justice and unity-focused grassroots community initiative that organizes public art mural projects connecting BIPOC artists with local businesses willing to host murals on their storefronts, vacant lots, and community spaces. Artists receive paid stipends to cover materials and time, while sponsors from the architecture and interior design industries cover paint supplies and commissions. The initiative also runs outdoor gallery partnerships, a memorial community garden, and branded merchandise sales to sustain its mission.

Product overview

Sounding Boards is a justice and unity-focused community art initiative that operates primarily through its core Chicago Mural Initiative service, connecting BIPOC artists with local businesses to create murals on boarded-up storefronts. The initiative has expanded to include the San Diego Outdoor Gallery (a rotating mural wall partnership with Nomad Donuts) and the Harmony Garden (a memorial garden and community park). The organization also sells merchandise including Use Your Voice T-Shirts and SB Stickers as supplementary offerings. All services support local artists through stipends for materials and time while promoting justice, unity, and diversity through public art.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SBSD (Sounding Boards San Diego): San Diego-based outdoor gallery project in partnership with Nomad Donuts featuring rotating murals by diverse artists.
• Harmony Garden

Products and services

• Chicago Mural Initiative Core service that facilitates murals on boarded-up storefronts and vacant lots throughout Chicago neighborhoods, connecting BIPOC artists with local businesses to amplify diverse voices through public art.
• Outdoor Gallery (SBSD) San Diego collaboration with Nomad Donuts featuring an outdoor mural wall with rotating artworks by diverse artists sharing messages about unity and justice.
• Harmony Garden Community memorial garden and safe space integrating public art, created on a previously vacant lot for community engagement and meaningful exchange. Sale of memorial bricks supports maintenance and upkeep.
• Use Your Voice T-Shirt Gildan Adult Unisex Ultra Cotton T-shirt originally designed for the SBSD event, featuring a screen-printed front and back design in Ice Grey, sold to support the initiative.
• SB Stickers 2x2 inch circle stickers available in single or 6-pack (70 lb. Label Matte), offered in Brown, Cream, Orange, Blue, Red, and Black colors, sold to support the initiative.

Quantifiable outcome

• Excess donations go to My Block My Hood My City Small Business Relief Fund supporting small business repair throughout Chicago

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Nomad DonutsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Partnership with Nomad Donuts in North Park, San Diego to create an outdoor gallery mural wall with rotating artworks by diverse artists. This is a flagship ongoing project featuring artists like Josue Baltezar, Kenda Francis, Mary Jhun, and Jon Pucci.
• Eastlake StudiocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Co-founder Christina Brown is from Eastlake Studio. The design firm initiated the Sounding Boards initiative in response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations, using their platform to amplify artist voices. Eastlake Studio provides organizational support and created the Harmony Garden project.
• My Block My Hood My CitycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerNonprofit partner receiving all excess donations beyond artist stipends. The Small Business Relief Fund supports repair of small businesses throughout Chicago and provides underprivileged youth experiences outside their communities.
• Chicago Public Art GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial organizer partner providing expertise in public art installation and community engagement in Chicago.
• Chicago Architecture BiennialflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner2021 collaboration on 'The Available City' edition. Sounding Boards will reinvigorate a vacant site in North Lawndale while providing a second life for original 2020 summer murals.
• Ava Grey DesignsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganizer partner contributing to the initiative's community revitalization efforts.
• PPG PaintsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsor covering paint supplies for mural projects.
• Aspen Commercial PaintingminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSponsor providing painting services for mural projects.
• Dill Pickle Food Co-opminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParticipating business providing storefront space for murals.
• Paulie GeesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParticipating business providing storefront space for murals.
• Chicago DistillingminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParticipating business providing storefront space for murals.
• Lola + The BoysminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorParticipating business where Blake Jones created a positive message mural of unity and spreading love.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• For Freedoms: Artist-led civic engagement organization producing public art, billboards, and programming around justice themes. Comparable to Sounding Boards in mission alignment (art + justice/diversity) and BIPOC artist platforming.
• The Awesome Foundation: Decentralized network of micro-grant chapters funding arts, community, and creative projects. Comparable in its grantmaking-driven community arts funding model, though broader in scope than Sounding Boards' mural focus.
• West Harlem Art Fund: Nonprofit producing public art installations in Upper Manhattan with a focus on diverse artists and neighborhood revitalization. Comparable mission and artist-support model, though more installation-oriented than mural-based.

Direct peers

• Mural Arts Philadelphia: The largest public art program in the United States, producing community murals and connecting artists with property owners across Philadelphia. Direct comparable to Sounding Boards' storefront-mural matching model, though at significantly greater scale and institutional funding.
• Groundswell NYC: Community mural organization that produces public art addressing social justice themes in New York City. Shares Sounding Boards' model of paying stipends to artists, partnering with local businesses for wall space, and tying murals to social impact narratives.
• Living Walls Atlanta: Public art nonprofit producing large-scale murals and artist residencies in Atlanta with a focus on diverse artists and community engagement. Closely mirrors Sounding Boards' artist-development and city-revitalization approach.
• Cleveland Public Art: Cleveland-based nonprofit that commissions and produces public art projects across the city. Closely comparable on nonprofit structure, mural production, and community-engagement programming.
• Chicago Public Art Group: Chicago-based collective of artists producing community murals since the 1970s. Sounding Boards' official organizer partner in Chicago — directly comparable on community-driven mural production in the same geography.
• Public Art St. Paul: Twin Cities-based nonprofit producing community murals and creative placemaking projects. Comparable to Sounding Boards in mission structure (nonprofit, mural-based) and partner-driven execution model.

Broad incumbents

• Meow Wolf: Large-scale immersive arts entertainment company building community-driven, artist-led experiential installations. Broader incumbent in the artist-community space, sharing the artist-compensation ethos but operating as a commercial entertainment business rather than nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/soundingboardschicago
• Facebookfacebook.com/soundingboardschicago
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sounding-boards

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sounding Boards