‘Be Careful, I Always Am’: Emmett Till memory honoured through Germane Barnes installation
An installation by Germane Barnes honours the memory of Emmett Till in Chicago, and marks the start of renovations to transform Till’s house into a museum

To commemorate what would have been Emmett Till’s 82nd birthday, Chicago nonprofit organisation Blacks in Green commissioned Germane Barnes, founder and principal of Studio Barnes, assistant professor and director of The Community Housing and Identity Lab (CHIL) at the University of Miami School of Architecture, and part of our Wallpaper* USA 300 list, to create an installation for the site of Till’s childhood home. The installation was unveiled on 23 July at a ceremonial groundbreaking for exterior renovations to the house, which will ultimately serve as a cultural house museum. Restoration efforts are scheduled to be completed by 2025.
Emmett Till installation: ‘Be Careful, I Always Am’
For Barnes, the name for the installation, 'Be Careful, I Always Am', reflects both his mother’s protectiveness and the tragedy of Emmett Till, who was brutally lynched by white racists in Mississippi in 1955.
'If you're from Chicago like I am, then your parents tell you as a kid how important the story of Emmett Till is. And especially if you're a young Black male who, like me, [is] from the West Side of Chicago. Whenever I would leave the house, my mother always [said] to me, be careful. And I always jokingly and sort of arrogantly [said] back, I always am. You know, you just assume you're invincible. But she's always trying to remind me that that's not always the case. Sometimes you don't make it home,' Barnes said.
The three-storey scaffold installation incorporates vivid yellow and red segments, along with archival texts drawn from research conducted by Jonathan Solomon and Elizabeth Blasius of Chicago firm Preservation Futures.
'It's done in the Superman colour palette because Superman was [Emmett’s] favourite comic series. And then we also know that photograph of him with this iconic tie with the hat. And so, we took just the shape of the tie and then sort of made these very large banners that have [text] on them. And then the banner begins to morph as it goes across the scaffold, which shows how we might think we're perfectly safe and under certain circumstances we lose that stability and we're no longer safe. And then at the very bottom, the hammocks are there so that people can also be a part of the installation. Because I'm always one that likes for people to see themselves in the work, as opposed to things they can't touch,' Barnes said.
The abstract nature of the installation reflects the collaboration between Barnes, Solomon and Blasius.
'Germane did not want to use photographic images. He wanted, and we agreed, to do something that interpreted images that people maybe had seen before... The tie is iconic of [Emmett], and it's also kind of iconic of the time period,' Solomon said.
The installation is located adjacent to the Till House at 6427 South St Lawrence Avenue in West Woodlawn on Chicago’s South Side, and will remain there until 23 November – Emmett's mother, Mamie Till’s birthday.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Audrey Henderson is an independent journalist, writer and researcher based in the greater Chicago area with advanced degrees in sociology and law from Northwestern University. She specializes in sustainability in the built environment, culture and arts, policy, and related topics. As a reporter for Energy News Network since 2019, Audrey has focused her coverage on environmental justice and equity. Along with her contributions for Wallpaper*, Audrey’s writing has also been featured in Chicago Architect magazine, Next City, the Chicago Reader, GreenBiz, Transitions Abroad, Belt Magazine and other consumer and trade publications.
-
Green House crowned RIBA House of the Year 2023
RIBA House of the Year 2023 has been awarded to Green House in London by Hayhurst & Co
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Nifemi Marcus-Bello makes an impression at Design Miami 2023
Nifemi Marcus-Bello is out in force at Design Miami, with a wall sculpture and installation at the fair’s entrance, made possible by Hublot, and a solo booth with Marta Los Angeles
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
The Algarve welcomes Austa, an all-day kitchen in touch with its heritage
From breakfast to dinner, Austa embraces honest eating and local community
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania’: two exhibitions bring new life to historic designs
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania and Fallingwater designs, realised and unrealised, are celebrated in two exhibitions, at The Westmoreland and at Fallingwater itself
By Audrey Henderson Published
-
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival design by Studio Gang revealed
The first images for the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival by Studio Gang have been unveiled
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Learnings from the Architecture Sarasota MOD Weekend 2023
Architecture Sarasota MOD Weekend 2023 highlights local midcentury architects’ timeless responses to sustainability and a site-specific approach
By Angella d'Avignon Published
-
Roy Lichtenstein studio is now home to the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program
The 1912 Roy Lichtenstein studio has been updated by Johnston Marklee to include individual artist studios, a seminar room and other facilities
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
This artist’s studio on Long Island is carefully placed amidst a wooded site
Architects Worrell Yeung designed the Springs artist's studio to blend into the trees, with leafy views from the lofty atelier
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Lever House in New York gets a 21st-century makeover
Some 70 years after its completion, SOM returns to Lever House in New York, bringing the high-rise landmark to the 21st century
By Diana Budds Published
-
FRPO’s Oregon house explores modern materials and a circular plan
This single-storey Oregon house in the Pacific Northwest offers a radical new take on suburban living
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Camino House is a revived 1960s home in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley
Lindsay Gerber’s tactful refurbishment of Camino House brings a quiet glamour to the wood-panelled 1960s home in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley
By Shonquis Moreno Published