A Constellation of Creativity
Chicago’s civic commons 2022 in pictures
Kick off your new year with inspiration from a dozen cities transforming civic assets to deliver more engaged, equitable and economically and environmentally resilient communities. Today, the fourth in our series of photo essays reflecting on the past year of progress features the civic commons work in Chicago.
Summer at Rebuild Foundation’s South Side sanctuary
Kenwood Gardens, an outdoor oasis and biophilic haven that hugs the corner of 70th Street and Kenwood Avenue on the South Side of Chicago, is the brainchild of artist Theaster Gates and his non-profit Rebuild Foundation. Reclaimed and transformed from thirteen formerly vacant contiguous city lots, Kenwood Gardens brings expertly designed and artistically curated greenspace to the Greater Grand Crossing community.
For the first full summer of programming since Kenwood Gardens opened to the public in September 2021, movement, music and embodiment programs anchored the series of wellness activations curated by Rebuild. In partnership with Very Human Social, a mission driven social club that produces experiences that encourage authentic human connection, Rebuild hosted a suite of movement and mindfulness classes that activated this South Side sanctuary for a number of summer weekends. Rebuild’s programmatic partners help to extend their mission of providing free arts and culture programming to the community while demonstrating their uncompromising support for artists and creative entrepreneurs in the community.
Breaking ground and shattering ceilings for the next generation of creative entrepreneurs
This year, Rebuild Foundation was proud to announce that the non-profit has raised $8.1 million of the $10.35 million needed to complete their largest project to date: the 40,000 square foot arts and creative entrepreneurship incubator at St. Laurence School. Shuttered and slated for demolition in 2002, the former Catholic preschool and elementary school was rescued from abandonment by Theaster Gates and Rebuild Foundation in 2015, adding another site of cultural exploration and economic development to the organization’s constellation of artistic amenities.
In May, Rebuild Foundation broke ground on the future incubator with the help of a few friends, funders and community leaders including Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and First Lady M.K. Pritzker, First Lady of Chicago Amy Eshleman, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Erin Harkey, Alderperson Michelle Harris and Eric Williams, The Silver Room. The incubator, which will open in 2024, will provide local artists and artisans with studio and maker space, an archive laboratory, financial literacy classes, room for exhibition and performance, and more. The presence of the incubator will equip local artists with the social and financial capital to pursue creative enterprises while catalyzing a cycle of economic development that aims to reverse decades of systemic and institutional disinvestment from the area.
For Tamir Rice: A Celebration of life and a call to action
After twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann within six seconds of the squad car door opening, Tamir’s mother, Samaria Rice, fought to receive ownership of the gazebo near which her son was unjustly murdered. Artist Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation became the stewards of this object of care and reconstructed the gazebo in full on the Stony Island Arts Bank lawn. On November 20, 2022, just a few days ahead of the eighth anniversary of Tamir Rice’s death, Rebuild Foundation hosted a day dedicated to celebrating Tamir’s life, his mother’s stewardship of his legacy and the presence of the Tamir Rice Memorial Gazebo on the Stony Island Arts Bank’s campus. The commemoration included a talk between artists Tony Lewis and Theaster Gates with words from Samaria Rice; a care workshop for guardians of Black youth led by Dr. Kimya Barden; a special Mellon Archives Innovation Program with Dr. Sampada Aranke that grounded Tamir’s story and legacy in objects from Rebuild’s extensive collection of Black images, objects and archives; and a house music set by DJ Duane Powell that centered Black liberation, joy and boyhood.
Music Moves Chicago at Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative
Nestled within Rebuild Foundation’s constellation of creative spaces and artistic amenities is Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative, a 32-unit affordable residential community with studio space for classes, workshops, performance and rehearsals. This year, Rebuild Foundation had the pleasure of continuing to partner with Music Moves Chicago, the community engagement arm of Old Town School of Folk Music, to host a series of public West African and Afro-Cuban dance classes, capoeira workshops, and a youth summer drum camp along with monthly djembe orchestra intensives, bringing a wide range of music and movement programs to neighbors, residents and community members in Greater Grand Crossing.
Culinary capital and community building
Retreat at Currency Exchange Café, Rebuild Foundation’s non-profit café and incubator for artists and creative entrepreneurs in the culinary arts, welcomed its third cohort of artists-in-residents at the Washington Park creative coffee house. Chef Ariya Taylor, a South Side native inspired by her grandmother’s cooking, takes over the foundation’s commercial kitchen and is complimented by CTRL Z Coffee company’s residency behind the coffee bar. Every week, Chef Ariya cooks up a new menu, created in collaboration with Chef Ellison Park who serves as Chef Taylor’s mentor during her tenure in the program. Every Thursday and Friday evening, guests and patrons enjoy dinner service — with a few pop ups throughout the month to further support local culinarians and restaurateurs — accompanied by live music and DJs, extending Rebuild Foundation’s creative ambition and hospitality to neighbors just a few minutes from the Stony Island Arts Bank.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
