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It was an abandoned 1920s bank on Chicago’s South Side, crumbling and decaying — the roof had long collapsed, exposing the inside to snow and rain for years. Now, it’s a stunning arts center.
But Stony Island Savings & Loan building found a saviour in artist, urban planner, and Chicago resident Theaster Gates.
He bought the 20,000-square-foot bank for just $1 from the city of Chicago and set about an unbelievable restoration. This month, the doors of the new Stony Island Arts Bank were thrown open to everyone’s delight — and awe.
The Stony Island Arts Bank is now home to art installations, artists, scholars, and archives on art history, architecture, and black culture. It also houses the Rebuild Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Gates to invest culture in underdeveloped neighborhoods.
“Projects like this require belief more than they require funding,” Gates told Fast Company.
“If there’s not a kind of belief, motivation, and critical aggregation of people who believe with you in a project like this, it cannot happen.”
“The city is starting to realize that there might be other ways of imagining upside beside ‘return on investment’ and financial gain.”
If you’re in Chicago, you can visit the new arts bank Tuesday through Saturday, 11am-6pm.
