A group of international artists, led by Chicago’s Emmanuel Pratt, founder of the Sweet Water Foundation, in partnership with the Smart Museum of Art, will stage People, Energy, Light, Power: the [Re]Construction of Ethos.
The work will focus on the year-long renovation and activation of an abandoned house on the site of Perry Ave. Commons—home of Sweet Water Foundation—where the Englewood and Washington Park neighborhoods intersect. Pratt will work with a group of youth apprentices and mentors to transform the house into a place of safety and wholeness for the community.
“It has been such an honor to collaborate with Emmanuel and the Sweet Water team over the last year on an installation and program series that provided a blueprint for the regeneration of a vacant house,” said Alison Gass, the Dana Feitler Director of the Smart Museum of Art. “We are thrilled that this Joyce Award will sustain an extended partnership between the Smart and Sweet Water Foundation that actively reclaims space and provides a platform for future dialogue and action.”