Wednesday March 14, 2012

Life on the Land: re-imagining public space

7-9 PM

Land use issues, which are one of the most contested aspects of urban life, have long been fertile territory for creative interventions. For this discussion, we will bring together artists and architects imagining the future livability of the city and discuss the role of artists and artists’ projects in the public urban space. How can the ephemeral proposals put forth by these practitioners be considered working models for other ways of living in the city? With the prevalence of vacant or scarcely occupied land, to what effect can these projects suggest or predict the future of these and other sites around Chicago?

threewalls hosts a variety of public programs aimed at engaging audiences in a conversations about the visual arts. The salon program is an open, topical conversation, where the public is invited to participate in a moderated conversation around current issues in contemporary art practice. SALONS invite a group of respondents to be on hand and part of the discussion, but everyone is welcome to come and be apart of the dialog. The SALON 2012 series Of Other Chicagos also highlights Propeller Fund awardees and other artists and creative thinkers who work in the public realm.

More information on the entire series here

Participants:

Nick Bastis is an artist and designer currently pursuing an MFA in Visual Art at The University of Chicago ('13). With a background in architecture and geography, he is particularly interested in the built environment and the mediation of public, private, and domestic landscapes.

Mike Newman has been an architect in Chicago for 14 years, and worked previously in Boston and Philadelphia. His work has focused on design innovation for issues of sustainability and affordability in housing and social justice projects. Other concentrations have been on constructability and professional practice topics. Mike has worked for 12 years as Senior Associate at CAPA, a well-known Chicago architectural firm, on projects including affordable housing, community planning designs, commercial and institutional projects, and market rate developments. His work there most recently has been on inventive sustainable projects such as Tryon Farm, a 150-unit development in Michigan City, Indiana. Since leaving CAPA, Mike has designed a series of units of housing, and is currently working on several sustainable market rate projects. Mike has also a keen interest in teaching, and has been Adjunct Professor ofArchitecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago for the past 6 years, teaching design studios, building science and preparatory classes for architectural licensure. Previously, Mike taught at Archeworks, an innovative design school that develops solutions for projects focusing on social issues.

Claire Pentecost’s interdisciplinary practice interrogates the imaginative and institutional structures that organize divisions of knowledge, often focusing on nature and artificiality. Her work positions artistic practice as a research practice, advocating for the role of the amateur in the collection, interpretation, and mobilization of information. Her current projects focus on industrial and bioengineered agriculture, including an open-source wiki called visiblefood.org that archives information about the hidden costs of the global corporate food system. Pentecost is an Associate Professor of Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhibited and lectured in the United States, South America, and Europe.
clairepentecost.org

Michael W. Phillips Jr. is an itinerant film programmer. He's the program director for the Chicago International Movies & Music Festival, and was the programmer for the LaSalle Bank/Bank of America Cinema until it closed in 2010. In 2011 he founded South Side Projections, a nonprofit organization that partners with community arts and culture spaces to present film screenings and discussions in neighborhoods that lack access to mainstream film venues. He is also one of the founders of the Southside Hub of Production in Hyde Park. 

Rashmi Ramaswamy has been working as an architect in Chicago for 12 years, and has a diverse background in architecture, education and a strong personal interest in public housing issues and environmental. Rashmi has worked for 9 years at McBride Kelley Baurer, a Chicago architectural firm, as project manager and Senior Associate. She has been involved in several projects in Chicago for non-for-profit clients including a campus for at-risk teen youth, a transitional shelter for women, HUD 202 senior housing and a daycare facility. She has also worked on an assortment of faith based projects and has extensive experience with corporate clients including IBM and Wrigley. Her work at the Wrigley building has ranged between urban design/master planning, building restoration and preservation to tenant build-outs. These projects have given her an understanding of the complicated processes involved in securing funding and meeting regulations. Rashmi has led MKB's sustainable effort, and is a LEED Accredited Professional. At a personal level, she is committed to women's issues and affordable housing. She serves on the boards of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, and archi-treasures, and is a member of USGBC, Chicago Chapter Programs Committee.

Sarah Ross is an artist who creates forms like clothing, signage and postcards to visualize struggles around space, class, access, and gender. She works collaboratively on projects such as Compass and Regional Relationships. Sarah teaches at The School of the Art Institute Chicago and works with incarcerated artists at an Illinois state prison. Images and ideas can be found at www.insecurespaces.net.

Ellen Rothenberg's work is concerned with the politics of everyday life and the formation of communities through collaborative practices. She is a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College and Harvard University, the Rockefeller Foundation, Engelhard Foundation, LEF Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council. Her work has been presented at London's Royal Festival Hall; Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen; National Museum for Contemporary Art, Bucharest; Museum London, Ontario; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art and Museum of Fine Arts among others. Recent publications featuring her work include LAND/ART Radius Press; How to Stretch an Arm Through a Gap, Art: 21 interview; and Experimental Geography (Melville House). Rothenberg teaches at the School of the Art Institute and lives in Chicago.

Helen Slade has over a decade of curatorial experience focusing on social issues, public art, and participatory projects. She now runs Low Impact Design, an independent architectural practice in Chicago, and is a founding member of Museum of Contemporary Phenomena.

Image: Nick Bastis