His work in Chicago has created spaces that protect and celebrate black lives and experience.

Artist and urban planner Theaster Gates was recently awarded the Urban Land Institute’s J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, reports John Gose.
Gates founded Rebuild Foundation in Chicago and is behind numerous projects bringing together art, cultural development, and neighborhood revitalization to preserve African-American history and culture. The result has been over $45 million in investments on the city’s South Side through the transformation of more than 30 abandoned buildings into cultural and event venues and housing.
His projects include Black Cinema House, which hosts screenings of black films and offers video training to community members. The Stony Island Arts Bank is a renovated former bank branch that now provides space to artists, scholars, and curators. Gose describes another project housing a variety of important collections:
Gates also directed the renovation of a former candy store into Listening House, which provides space for community programs and serves as an archive for esteemed Chicago institutions of a bygone era, including Dr. Wax Records, which closed in 2010 after 30 years; Johnson Publishing Co., which sold its Jet and Ebony magazines to private equity firm Clear View Group in 2016; and the shuttered Prairie Avenue Bookstore, one of the last architecture book stores in the U.S.
In addition to supporting the local community, Gates wants these spaces to connect people through art. "The events attract people who normally wouldn't consider venturing into places like Chicago’s South Side, he explains, and illustrate how active environments can positively influence perceptions," notes Gose.
FULL STORY: To Theaster Gates, Art And Redevelopment Are One And The Same

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie