Theaster Gates has always understood architecture s power to transform a community. An artist in an urban plannerâs body, heâs a West Side Chicago kid who grew up with an affinity for the South Sideâand a belief that it only takes the right eager eye to redefine and rebuild a neighborhood.
âBecause Chicago is as [much a] big city, as it is a small town, things can brew longer and more affordably,â says Gates of growing up âin a Black bubble.â
Recognized for his interdisciplinary artworks spanning sculpture, land development, and performance, Gatesâwho has lived on the South Side for fourteen yearsâhas spent the past decade asking us to radically reconsider the spaces that we see as abandoned or dead. Since establishing The Rebuild Foundation in 2010, a non-profit platform centered around art, cultural development, and neighborhood transformation, the artist has injected new life into a string of abandoned and run down spaces in his immed