Entry No. 76 — the Chicago file — filed under: hands-on
Jem Junkies
Inside the Lacuna Lofts artist building, this Black-, queer-owned studio opened by couple Kristy Ramsey and Kim Randall in 2025 walks small BYOB groups through the actual grillz-making process — taking dental impressions, pouring molds, and hand-sculpting a wax design that can then be cast in real silver.
The story
Most craft workshops send you home with a slightly lopsided ceramic mug or a candle that smells like fake lavender. Jem Junkies operates on a distinctly stranger plane: here, you spend an evening tucked inside an artist loft building in Pilsen taking dental impressions of your partner's incisors and sculpting custom wax mouthpieces. Founded in 2025 by couple Kristy Ramsey and Kim Randall, the Black- and queer-owned studio strips custom grillz and tooth gems of their aloof, closed-door industry mystique and turns them into a hands-on art form.
You'll navigate to unit 4C-20 inside Lacuna Lofts, where the process strips away any clinical pretense. You start by mixing impression putty and biting down to capture a precise dental print, then pour quick-setting dental stone into the impression to make a exact replica of your teeth. From there, you pick up carving tools to shape blue dental wax into custom tooth caps, open-face frames, or bar designs directly over the stone mold—which can then be sent off to be cast in real silver. You didn't hear it from us, but mixing impression putty for someone else before handing them a carving knife is easily one of the highest-stakes date nights in Chicago.
What it's like
Navigating the long hallways of Lacuna Lofts on Canalport Avenue is half the fun, but once you locate unit 4C-20, the studio opens into a small, welcoming workshop. Because sessions are capped at four people, there is zero assembly-line rush; it feels like hanging out in a friend's studio. It's fully BYOB, so bring drinks while you work through impression trays, stone pours, and delicate wax sculpting. You'll leave your finished wax model behind to be cast into solid metal if you choose, carrying home your own plaster tooth mold as a souvenir.
The move: Book the Grillz Workshop Experience together (up to 4 people): take each other's dental impressions, pour molds, and sculpt your own wax grillz design, then decide whether to have the finished piece cast in silver.
- 📍 Pilsen
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 2150 S Canalport Ave, Unit 4C-20, Chicago, IL 60608
Hours: Added 2026-07-19 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Punch House — Pair your hands-on studio session with a half-mile trip west to Thalia Hall's basement rec room for draft punch beneath a tropical fish tank.
- ChiTown Drive-In — Keep your Pilsen night out low-key by driving half a mile to catch a late movie in the ChiTown Futbol parking lot.
- Gulliver in Wonderland (Hector Duarte's House) — Take a short detour through Pilsen before your workshop to view Hector Duarte's entire mural-wrapped home and studio.
- Nine Bar — Head five minutes east into Chinatown after class to slip behind the counter of Moon Palace Express for hidden nightcap cocktails.
Good to know
Where is Jem Junkies located inside Lacuna Lofts?
The studio is in Unit 4C-20 inside the Lacuna Lofts building at 2150 S Canalport Ave in Pilsen.
Can I bring drinks to the grillz workshop?
Yes, the small-group workshops are BYOB.
Do you leave class with a solid silver grill?
During the workshop you take dental impressions, pour the stone mold, and hand-sculpt the custom wax design. You then decide whether to have your wax piece cast into finished silver.
Who owns and runs Jem Junkies?
It was opened in 2025 by partners Kristy Ramsey and Kim Randall as a Black- and queer-owned custom tooth gem and grillz studio.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: chicagoreader.com · Official site · Yelp
last checked: 2026-07-19