HeadMaze: Designed to Meet the Moment

Today's social challenges and culture shifts have led to growing isolation, disengagement from community, and a mounting mental health crisis. HeadMaze was built for exactly this moment. The HeadMaze project includes two distinct but intertwined spaces - the “monument” and the “pavilion.”  Both spaces – along with the creative team behind them – activate a platform for city-wide engagement and social impact through immersive experiences, civic activations, and collaborative innovation.

The HeadMaze Monument

The centerpiece of the HeadMaze project is the 57-foot-tall monument. From the outside, it’s an iconic public art sculpture representing a contemplative human head. On the inside, it’s a four-story immersive experience with 30 interactive rooms that guide participants through a cornucopia of dreamscapes and memory. Located at Chicago’s most popular civic site – Navy Pier - this landmark acts as a prompt for public reflection, anchoring the project’s mission to promote introspection, connection, and mental wellness.

The HeadMaze Pavilion:  

Adjacent to the monument is a two-story, 20,000 sq. ft. pavilion and plaza, purpose-built to host public programming, performances, workshops, and civic gatherings. Flexible and modular by design, it evolves alongside the needs of the community and its collaborators. This public space becomes the platform for partnerships that drive the HeadMaze social impact mission to improve mental wellness in Chicago. We have a growing list of 20+ community organizations committed to partnering, including NAMI, the Chicago History Museum, and Second City.

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Built to Attract Chicago Natives and Tourists

The ticketed HeadMaze experience invites participants into an immersive world where sensation, wonder, and interactive storytelling explore the landscapes of the mind. Art, media, technology, and performance intertwine into a real-life interactive game. Each room is designed to stimulate thinking and reflection in unique ways. One early prototype, the Speakeasy, entails magic, wonder, and transformation that comes through connection in liminal spaces. Developed with Ytasha Womack - Chicago-based Afrofuturist expert and HeadMaze's Chief World Builder - this space integrates work by leading Chicago artists and other innovators including John Jennings and Norman Teague, grounding the experience in local creative excellence and shared cultural mythology.

Built for Community Impact

HeadMaze is designed as a platform for city-wide engagement and community impact. While HeadMaze attracts participants and partner organizations to Navy Pier, there’s a boomerang effect that directs people back into neighborhoods across the city to support businesses, engage nonprofits, and access important social services - with a particular focus on low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. For community partners – including artists, educators, healthcare practitioners, and nonprofits - HeadMaze serves as a creative partner, co-developer, and amplifier for their mission-oriented activities. Ultimately, HeadMaze amplifies and unites fragmented mental wellness and community-building efforts into a cohesive voice; an interconnected ecosystem of mission-driven collaborators.