Rebuilding Chicago An Innovative Project That is Redefining How We Look at Urban Spaces and Reinforcing the Transformative Power of Art
WRITTEN BY: FILIPA ARAÚJO
Theaster Gates, Founder of Rebuild Foundation
R ebuild Foundation was founded in 2009 by artist and social innovator Theaster Gates. Founded with the intent to empower communities and support emerging artists, the Rebuild Foundation is a platform for art, cultural development, and neighborhood transformation. The foundation is part of a network of organizations created to uplift the South Side of Chicago. Their vision is based on using art and culture for progress and development. The foundation empowers the community through different initiatives by providing free art programs, creating new cultural spaces, and developing affordable housing, studios, and work spaces for the community of South Side Chicago. They restore old historical buildings to create new community spaces, blowing life into old forgotten places and inspiring the potential within the community.
THE FACE BEHIND THE FOUNDATION
Theaster Gates is a potter by training and a social activist by vocation. Just like his pottery, Gates enjoys shaping things and the process of turning nothing into something beautiful. His works focus on sculpture, performance, and urban planning and preservation. An international award-winning artist and professor at the University of Chicago in the visual arts department, Gates is a visionary in redefining how we look at urban spaces that serve our communities. The way that Gates blends art & culture with social practice shows us that there are multiple perspectives we can use to look at community engagement and how we connect with art. There’s something quite poetic about reutilizing spaces that are damaged and forgotten by time in hopes of lifting areas that are often damaged and forgotten by society.
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