A group of people gathered in a bright room for a meeting or workshop, with tables, chairs, and food on display, and a woman standing and speaking at the front of the room.
lavender page titled What Type of Other Life Did I want? Collage photograph below depicts two brown feet, left says I want, right says another life, below a shop door within which is another image of a smiling person against a park background.
A man with curly gray hair and glasses, wearing a black shirt and black pants, plays an electric guitar outdoors on a red and white blanket, with a black guitar case and a microphone stand nearby.
White page with photograph of a row of posters with a black fist in the air and the words "people power". Below is text that begins with "Snatch the coins from the greedy and give them back to the needy."
A group of people with posters and banners on a table at a meeting or event.

Community offerings

These offerings are part of Madhouse, a collaboration between Fractal House and Center for Mad Culture. A hub for mad engagement, activism, and empowerment, together we are creating spaces for community, creativity, and care.

You’re invited to join us—exactly as you are.

Workshops and events are free and accessible to all. Please register to help us prepare.

  • Join us for a weekly writing circle honoring the poetry in and of us all. Facilitated by artist, poet, and peer mentor, Matt Bodett, founder of The Center for Mad Culture, this workshop series is part poetry class, part writing circle, and all mad focused. Co-facilitated by Lauren Hersch, therapist, poet, and founder of Fractal House: a mad clinic, this workshop series invites us to show up for the unfamiliar within and without as we honor, shape and voice what is divergent in us all.  

    Hybrid:

    • May 16-July 11

    • Saturdays, 11-1pm (CST)

    • Center for Mad Culture (410 S Michigan ave. #419)

    REGISTER HERE- MAD POETS

    *Beginning August 6: In Person Mad Poets Writing Group @ Fractal House

  • This is a relief block printing workshop which will use historic images of fools as a basis for exploring image making and reexamining how we tell our stories. 

    This is a four week workshop which will run on Saturdays, June 6th to June 27th

    In Person at Center for Mad Culture (410 S Michigan Ave, #419)

    Space is limited to 5 people, this is a first come first served workshop. 

    REGISTER HERE - MAD PRINTS

  • Curious about mindfulness but not sure where to start? Mindfully Mad is a five-week virtual course designed to introduce practical mindfulness skills in an accessible, nonjudgmental, and real-world way. While participants are welcome to attend any individual session, the series is designed as a course, and we recommend attending all five weeks to get the most out of the experience. No prior mindfulness experience is required.

    REGISTER HERE

  • Book Club is live and ready for you to read and engage with madness! All readings will be made available via pdf. Intermittent participation welcome. **Schedule Change! Book Club will meet virtually the first Monday of the month, beginning Monday July 6.

    2026:
    July - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
    August  - The Man of Jasmine by Unica Zurn
    September - Selections from Storming Bedlam by Sasha Warren
    October - The poetry of Lal Ded
    November - Selections from Committed by Susan Burch
    December - Selections from In the Realms of the Unreal by John G.H. Oaks
    2027:

    January - Van Gogh: The Man Suicided by Society by Antonin Artaud
    February - Clairvoyant Journals by Hannah Weiner
    March - Selections from Black Madness :: Mad Blackness by Theri Alyce Pickens
    April - Selections from the Stories of Leonora Carrington
    May - Selections from Mad Pride by Ted Curtis, Robert Dellar, Esther Leslie, and Ben Watson
    June - [Abjections] by Evan Reynolds

    REGISTER HERE

Stylized barcode with the text 'Mad Pride' overlaid in blue, with the word 'Beyond Diagnosis' partially visible underneath.
Register for all events here

  • This in-person event will incude artmaking, empowerment workshops, and community building! 

    when: 1-4pm (CST)

    where: In Person at the Center for Mad Culture: 410 S Michigan #419


  • Registrants will receive a zoom link to this mad panel discussion. Details are still being solidified and will be available shortly. 

    when: 2-3pm (CST)

    where: online

  • Back by popular demand!! Mad Pride online open mic is a chance to share your poems, your stories, your art, your music, your dance, your soul, your recipes, your games, your experiences, and more! Registrants will receive a zoom link.

    when: 2-4pm (CST)

    where: Online

  • We will be hosting a casual movie night at the Center for Mad Culture. Participants are free to bring along snacks! 

    when: 7-9pm (CST)

    where: Center for Mad Culture: 410 S Michigan ave #419

Join Us

in celebrating

‍ ‍Mad pride

This month

At the heart of Mad Pride is the belief that all ways of being, feeling, and making meaning are valuable—exactly as they are.

This May, we’re honoring that through a series of workshops and gatherings created in collaboration with The Center for Mad Culture.

Learn More about Mad Pride Here

The images above offer a glimpse into our community, featuring original artwork from our photography workshop, gatherings at the Madhouse Confluence, and music performed at last summer’s Mad Open Mic (more details and artist info forthcoming).