Chicago Arts + Industry Commons advances an innovative approach to community development – a socially engaged neighborhood master implementation strategy. The goal is clustered and coordinated activity among a network of significant sites, enhancing public access and better integrating these places into the city. This civic commons approach for the South Side of Chicago increases the number of opportunities available for people who have been left out of the upside of economic development.
Chicago Arts + Industry Commons connects civic assets with untapped potential to recalibrate community activation, targeting resources as networks of neighborhood development, rather than as isolated assets.
Chicago Arts + Industry Commons advances an innovative approach to community development – a socially engaged neighborhood master implementation strategy. The goal is clustered and coordinated activity among a network of significant sites, enhancing public access and better integrating these places into the city. This civic commons approach for the South and West sides of Chicago increases the number of opportunities available for people who have been left out of the upside of economic development.
An existing network of civic assets on the South Side of Chicago have been reactivated and redeveloped: the Stony Island Arts Bank campus, Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative, and a number of affordable housing units for artists and partners along Dorchester Avenue. These anchor sites, owned and managed by Rebuild Foundation and Theaster Gates Studio, will connect to developing projects in St. Laurence Elementary School, a shuttered school that is being transformed into an arts and business incubator, and Kenwood Gardens, a seasonal outdoor oasis for artists and community members to enjoy.
Through a variety of accessible and engaging cultural programs – from weekly classes and DJ sets to artists talks and film screenings – these reimagined spaces attract visitors and artists of varying interests from diverse communities. These civic assets, coupled with the thoughtful and intentional programming supported by Rebuild Foundation, serve as sanctuaries for local artists and creative entrepreneurs, from a range of educational, professional and socio-economic backgrounds, who are looking to strengthen their craft, reach new audiences, or generate new work.
As a demonstration of financial sustainability, the Chicago Arts + Industry Commons employs an evolving cultural reinvestment model that uses the revitalization of civic assets with untapped potential as part of an engine that spurs new development and new capital, a portion of which is used to support the civic commons.
Learn more about the powerful impacts of Chicago’s work to reimagine civic assets in our report, The Power of the Commons.
