Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/956460
75 Chicago neighborhood into sculpturally moldable material. This ambitious endeavor unfolds in the primarily black Greater Grand Crossing area, where he first purchased property in 2008, in the wake of the housing-bubble crisis. His initial intention of converting a defunct building into a multifunctional space for locals to engage in arts and culture has expanded in spades. Today, multiple buildings and city blocks in Grand Crossing are revitalized and operate under Gates' nonprofit Rebuild Foundation. Its mission is simple; the solutions, more complicated: "Demonstrate the impact of innovative, ambitious and entrepreneurial arts and cultural initiatives. Our work is informed by three core values: black people matter, black spaces matter, and black objects matter." Still, Gates has achieved multilayered results, building an activated, revived community. A former candy store is now the Listening House and holds thousands of LPs from Chicago's Dr. Wax Records, a seminal archive of soul, jazz, and hip hop. In the same complex, the Archive House, refurbished with materials sourced from Gates' other renovation projects, includes a micro library of books. Adjacent to the Archive and Listening houses is Kenwood Gardens, a $4.4 million project that includes the development of a community garden and tiny-house- style artist residencies. Nearby, 32 renovated townhomes — the Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative — serve as affordable housing for artists and families dedicated to artistic immersion. Gates' residence and studio are also in Antiques inside Goodchild's studio. the neighborhood, the latter a former Anheuser-Busch distribution facility that now houses a woodshop, pottery studio, offices, and library. Across the street, he acquired the St. Laurence Catholic School, which closed in 2002 and is set to reopen as a space for education and job training in design and fabrication. Gates' balanced interest in materials, architecture, art, and community makes him ripe for an award such as the Nasher Prize, which celebrates living artists who elevate the understanding of sculpture. "Robert Rauschenberg spoke of making work that operated in the space between art and life," says Nasher Sculpture Center director Jeremy Strick. "Theaster Gates is making art intended to have a direct impact upon life in a specific community, even while reflecting upon its status as art." Also of note in Chicago is the Stony Island Arts Bank building, circa 1923, which in the 1960s and '70s was one of the few black-owned financial institutions in town. Vacant for decades and scheduled for demolition, Gates bought the building from the city for $1, with the stipulation that he would restore and open it to the public; in 2015, he did. Now, the bank houses diverse collections, acquired by Gates over the years. There is the Johnson Publishing Company archive, which includes the full collection of black lifestyle magazines Ebony and Jet; 60,000 art and architecture glass slides, originally discarded by the University of Chicago's art-history department; hundreds of vinyl records from Frankie Knuckles Records, whose namesake is the so-called Godfather of House Music; and the Edward J. Williams Collection, which includes 4,000 "negrobilia" objects — items and artifacts depicting stereotypical Tar Baby II, 2016 Stony Island Arts Bank, Chicago (continued on page 97) TAR BABY II: MARKUS TRETTER