Kendra Freeman
I‘m so proud to be here. You’re all an inspiration to me.”
Woodlawn Community Summit confronts visions of the neighborhood’s uncertain future
Author: Christian Belanger
Grounding Principles
Woodlawn residents weigh in on the development of the Washington Park National Bank Building in a series of meetings
Renderings of scenarios presented by groups at community meetings were created by SOM & BKV Group (Courtesy of Metropolitan Planning Council)
Last Tuesday, the Cook County Land Bank Authority and Metropolitan Planning Council wrapped up the last of three public meetings with Woodlawn residents held as a precursor to the development of the long-vacant Washington Park National Bank Building at 63rd Street and Cottage Grove. The meetings were part of the Corridor Development Initiative (CDI), a community-oriented process designed to ensure that Woodlawn residents’ suggestions would be incorporated into the final plan for the development.
Home Histories: Airport Homes
Closer to Resurrection
Cook County Land Bank Authority announces community-led redevelopment of historic bank building in Woodlawn
Finn Jubak
The Cook County Land Bank Authority (CCLBA) will soon begin a community-led redevelopment process of the Washington Park National Bank Building, executive director Rob Rose announced at a Woodlawn Chamber of Commerce meeting this past Friday evening.
Cracks in the Foundation
Former employees of Theaster Gates’s Rebuild Foundation allege mistreatment
Jasmin Liang
In mid-March, the New York Times published a warm profile of Theaster Gates’s new exhibition at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., describing his creations as “monumental structures that echo abstract canvases elsewhere in the institution, but are embedded with unsung stories of black laborers and entrepreneurs.” Part of the piece also detailed how Gates’s Rebuild Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims at neighborhood and community revitalization through arts-related projects, had acquired the dismantled pieces of the gazebo in Cleveland where twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was killed by a police officer in November 2014. Rebuild would use the pieces, the article said, to create a memorial for Rice later this year at the Stony Island Arts Bank, the organization’s South Shore home and exhibition space.
All Things Unequal
Fifty years of racial inequality from the UIC’s State of Racial Justice Report
Ellen Hao
On Monday, the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Institute for Research on Race & Public Policy (IRRPP) released “A Tale of Three Cities: The State of Racial Justice in Chicago Report,” a study that analyzes disparities in housing, economics, education, justice, and health between Black, Latinx, and white communities in Chicago. Using robust quantitative evidence from a variety of sources, each section delves deep into the history, causes, and consequences of these racial and ethnic inequities that “remain pervasive, persistent, and consequential” in Chicago’s institutions and neighborhoods.”
Green Thumbs and Concrete Steps
One Earth Film Festival hosts environmental films, dialogues across Chicago
WYCC PBS Chicago + Juneteenth Productions / Vimeo
One Earth Film Festival, Chicago’s premier environmental movie festival, put on its sixth run earlier this month, from March 3 to March 12. Aiming to raise awareness and facilitate dialogue about environmental issues and protections, One Earth screens films and hosts post-screening discussions for free. This year, they put on forty-seven showings of thirty films in thirty-nine locations throughout the Chicagoland area. The Weekly sent writers to three of these: Can You Dig This?, NaturePlay, and Chicago’s True Nature.
Home Histories: The Strand
Natalie Gonzalez
Last November, when William and Jacqueline Lynch moved their art gallery into the recently reopened Strand Apartments on 63rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue, they were unaware of their new building’s historical import. “I did know about the Grand Ballroom down the street,” said William. “I didn’t know anything about this building.”
All in the Family
A battle over a Pilsen real estate empire highlights the neighborhood’s uncertain future
Julie Xu
This past fall, perceptive Chicago art lovers may have noticed the absence of one long-standing tradition: after forty-five years, the Pilsen East Artists’ Open House wasn’t happening.
Becoming a Better Neighbor
UofC professor Bart Schultz talks about his work with the Civic Knowledge Project
Zelda Galewsky
“If people come back ten years from now, or fifteen years from now, and it looks as though what happened was urban renewal or gentrification under another name, well, you’ll be getting the same kinds of critical histories you got about urban renewal in the fifties and sixties, right?” – Bart Schultz