Sep 2nd 2010

In 1968 in on the west side of Chicago, an experimental art center called “Art & Soul” opened with support from the fledgling Museum of Contemporary Art and the Illinois Sesquicentennial. What’s more surprising (from an artworld point of view) is the third partner in the project: the Conservative Vice Lords, a reinvention of the street gang known simply as the Vice Lords. CVL, Inc., had already opened ice cream parlors, restaurants, and a clothing store called the African Lion, but the art center was a new and different kind of venture. Working together, Vice Lords and MCA and Sesquicentennial staffers converted two vacant storefronts into a single space for youth programming, artist residencies, and exhibitions. As the Chicago Tribune put it, “Two months ago, it was a dilapidated building, housing a hat cleaner on 16th Street. Today, it is the brightest spot on the block—Art and Soul, a library, gallery, light and music theater, and workshop for west side artists.” In this talk Rebecca Zorach will present some of research on the project and use it to pose some questions about how we interpret the history of art practices and collective action in Chicago and more broadly.

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