Artists are increasingly turning their creativity to directly solving community issues as part of their practice. Well-known artists like Chicago-based Theaster Gates and Jan Tichy, for example, have generated projects in Gary, Indiana to spur economic development. Similarly, in Chester, Pennsylvania, artists are creating work to do the same.

These projects raise questions about how artists work with city planners and other unlikely partners and how the various approaches serves existing populations in these communities.

Please join us for a conversation on these projects in Gary and Chester and how artists and city planners are working together to solve economic issues in communities that have experienced disinvestment.

Panelists:

Frances Whitehead, artist, Gary
Walter Jones, artist, Gary
Devon Walls, artist, Chester
Joseph Van Dyk, Director of Redevelopment, Gary
Peter Rykard, Assistant City Planner, Chester
Moderated by Tracie D. Hall

This conversation about the intersection of the arts and planning is a part of the Gary/Chester Artist Exchange, a project of Illinois Humanities and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council.

If you require ASL interpretation or other assistance to fully participate in this program, please contact info@ilhumanities.org at least 72 hours prior to the program so that we can make accommodations. For more information, please call (312) 422-5580.