Rebuild Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming buildings and neighborhoods in South Side Chicago, sustaining cultural development as well as celebrating art. The Rebuild Foundation was founded in 2009 by Theaster Gates, a social practice installation artist. The Foundation is currently composed of seven projects.
History
In 2009, Theaster Gates founded Rebuild Foundation, aiming to collaborate with cities to transform vacant buildings into aesthetic and economical living and cultural spaces. The Rebuild Foundation is composed of seven different projects: Dorchester Industries, Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative, Stony Island Arts Bank, Black Cinema House, Black Artists Retreat, Archive House, and Listening House. Gates combined urban planning and art to give inner-city neighborhoods in Chicago a second life; while preserving their history. Through the various projects Rebuild offers, Gates hires and teaches neighborhoods to work in different construction trades.
Stony Island Arts Bank
The Stony Island Arts Trust and Savings Bank Building was a community bank in South Shore Chicago that was shut down in the 1980s. In October 2015, Theaster Gates bought the building from the City of Chicago for $1. The building was transformed by the Rebuild Foundation and designer William Gibbens Uffendell. Gates raised funding for the project by selling marble blocks as pieces of art and hosting a gala at the bank. Stony Island Arts Bank is a place dedicated to rehabilitating the neighborhood's culture and provides a place for the community to come and express themselves and their heritage through art, cinema, exhibitions, and readings and dedicates their attention to educating a community primarily about African American culture, art, and architecture. The Stony Island Arts Bank holds different exhibits every month and preserves many artifacts important to Chicago's music history. In 2014, Rebuild Foundation received an investment contribution from JP Morgan Chase worth $300,000. Rebuild Foundation directed the investment to the renovation of St. Laurence School in Chicago, which is based in the Stony Island Arts Bank. In 2016, Stony Island Arts Bank received the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award. This award recognizes stories of salvaging buildings throughout the state, displaying how restoration has a positive impact on communities, the environment and residents of the state.
Stony Island Arts Bank Collections
Edward J. Williams "negrobilia" Collection
Frankie Knuckles Vinyl Record Collection
Johnson Publishing Archive + Collections
University of Chicago Glass Lantern Slides
Tamir Rice Gazebo Memorial (see #Controversy below)
Dorchester Industries
Dorchester Industries was founded on November 1, 2016. It's an industrial production, led by artists, that creates spaces, furniture, and pieces of art using materials given by the City of Chicago. It also teaches young artists and members of underdeveloped neighborhoods how to use materials such as clay and wood and techniques like kiln firing and glazing. It provides training that encourages members to pursue an education for a professional career.
Programs
Dorchester Industries Apprentice Program - South Side residents are given the opportunity to work along with local tradespeople, such as landscapers, contractors, masons, etc. and with the Rebuild Foundation's Artist in Residence to create their own line of art works and then hold the benefit to auction off their pieces.