mission statement

a design competition based on the site of the gertrude lempp kerbis (glk) plot in graceland cemetery, located at the corner of clark st & irving park rd. in chicago, il.

the juried competition seeks to collect both buildable & conceptual entries, from professionals and non-professionals, honoring the life & legacy of gertrude lempp kerbis, chicago’s 1st lady of modernism. an awards ceremony is planned in June 2026.

competition objective: what would you propose if you had the commission to design the gertrude lempp kerbis cremation grave marker at graceland cemetery?

we are looking for ideas/concepts/drawings/plans that reflect the achievements & essence & legacy of gertrude lemp kerbis and pays tribute to kerbis as an architect, engineer, developer, feminist, chicagoan, teacher, woman, gadfly, trailblazer, philanthropist & mother.

we encourage applicants to tour graceland cemetery and visit points of interest for inspiration, including the graves of william le baron jenney, john w root, louis sullivan, howard van doren shaw, daniel burnham, mies van der rohe, richard nickel, laszlo moholy-nagy, walter & dawn clark-netsch, stanley tigerman, fazler kahn, bruce graham, bruce goff and marion mahony-griffin, the only renowned female architect buried at graceland to date.