Services

7 Years

Experience in this space.

20+ Associates

Have worked on our content, from part-time employees, post-graduates, photographers, scholarly researchers, graduate students, interns,  and undergraduates.

Leadership and Associates

Christopher Allison, Ph.D.

Founder & Executive Director, Digital Spaces Chicago

Christopher Allison, Ph.D., is a historian, educator, and cultural consultant whose work brings together archival research, material culture, and digital storytelling to help organizations articulate identity, place, and purpose. As the Founder and Executive Director of Digital Spaces Chicago, he partners with real estate agents & developers, museums, arts organizations, and community institutions to create narratives that strengthen public engagement, elevate cultural assets, and support mission‑aligned growth. 

He is passionate about highlighting space and place that drives the mission of an organization, with accessible digital media. 

His work is an extension of the Sacred Spaces project at Dominican University that he founded and designed, that has worked with dozens of communities.  Digital Spaces Chicago is an independent entity that has expanded beyond the university context opening up our services to a wider constituency. He has trained promising graduate, undergraduate, and post-graduate students to expand their digital media skills with partners from the Driehaus Foundation, the Heller Foundation, Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center, the Dominican Higher Education Colloquium, and Yale University’s Center for Material and Visual Cultures of Religion (MAVCOR). The Driehaus Foundation has been essential in accelerating this work, and Yale has been a key archiving partner and supporter to preserve our work for posterity.

The results are compelling video, oral history, curator/docent/leader recordings, drone footage, immersive 360-degree tours that can imbed primary historical content on space (i.e. documents, historic images, close-ups of art and objects).  Allison is a certified Part 107 UAS (Drone) FAA Pilot. 

Allison earned his Ph.D. in History of American Civilization from Harvard University, where his research explored how communities use objects, architecture, and memory to construct meaning. He also holds an M.A.R. in American Religious History from Yale Divinity School, grounding his work in a deep understanding of the social, cultural, and historical forces that shape American life.  He previously worked at an education think-tank, in healthcare finance, and as a secondary education history and English teacher.

Across his career, Allison has led projects that integrate historical insight with contemporary design and communication needs—ranging from heritage interpretation and exhibit development to neighborhood storytelling, institutional anniversaries, and digital content strategy. He has written, won, and led major grants from NEH, the Lilly Foundation, the Driehaus Foundation, Heller Foundation, and more. His clients and collaborators include congregations, cultural centers, performing arts groups, and organizations seeking to connect their physical spaces with compelling, community‑rooted narratives. Currently his team is expanding into digitizing commercial real estate and development projects with compelling visuals. 

Digital Spaces Chicago reflects his commitment to accessible, research‑driven storytelling. Whether developing interpretive materials for a museum, crafting a narrative framework for a redevelopment project, or helping a theater company articulate its public identity, Allison brings a distinctive blend of scholarly rigor, creative vision, and collaborative leadership.

He is especially passionate about projects that bridge history and innovation—helping communities, cultural institutions, and civic partners tell visually rich and research-based stories that resonate, inspire, and endure.

Many people can photograph a site, but few outfits have the scholarly training, the experience, and the range of digital skills to craft a suite of bespoke content that enhances a group’s mission.  Working with us enhances the careers of upcoming professionals; Allison is an award-winning educator who is committed to the flourishing of his clients, interns, and staff.

Our Team

We primarily work with partners who are future professionals in graduate school, professional photographers, archivists, cultural heritage experts in the Upper Midwest.  We are committed to developing a new generation of digital humanities and corporate creative professionals.  Education is a key part of our mission, and we pay and train all of our student interns to support them in their development. If a given student or post-graduate professional wants to highlight their work with Digital Spaces Chicago you will find it below.