Renowned Chicago artist and urban planner Theaster Gates is embarking on a transformative new phase of his career, marked by the opening of his first major solo exhibition at the University of Chicago's Smart Museum of Art and the launch of an innovative educational initiative in Grand Crossing. The exhibition, titled "Theaster Gates: Unto Thee," opens September 23 and runs through February 22, featuring paintings, ceramics, installations, film, and repurposed campus materials that Gates describes as "symbolic and loaded, the closing of one chapter and the opening of another."
Simultaneously, Gates is launching the Land School, a groundbreaking project of his Rebuild Foundation located at 72nd Street and Dorchester Avenue in Grand Crossing. The school is designed to teach and provide resources for artists while demystifying the mechanics of redevelopment, from policy navigation to contractor relationships and city approvals. Together, these initiatives represent a pivotal shift in Gates' approach after two decades of transforming vacant buildings into libraries, housing, and cultural spaces.
"I'm shifting from building institutions to preparing others to carry that work forward," Gates explained. The artist, who has worked at the University of Chicago for 20 years and currently serves as a professor of visual arts, drew extensively from his campus experience for the exhibition. "All of my contemporary art life, a lot of it was informed by classes that I was taking, that I was auditing when I was an administrator at the university, or conversations that grew as a result of me having friendships on the South Side," he said.
The "Unto Thee" exhibition showcases Gates' deep connection to the university through the incorporation of significant campus materials. The show features pews from Bond Chapel, glass lantern slides and vitrines from the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, and concrete from Midway Studios. Among the works Gates is most eager to showcase is a triptych of tar paintings created using roofing techniques and materials including enamel, bitumen, rubber, and copper. One painting bears the title of the Black Panther Party slogan "Defend the Black race," while another honors his father, who worked as a roofer.
"They're paintings that I made that were personal, and I've rarely shown those in Chicago," Gates noted. "It's really nice to honor my dad's history of labor." The artist's personal journey began on Chicago's West Side, where he grew up before studying ceramics and urban planning at Iowa State University. He later traveled to Japan to study pottery, earned a master's in fine arts and religious studies at the University of Cape Town, and completed a multidisciplinary master's degree combining urban planning, ceramics, and religious studies from Iowa State before returning to Chicago in 1999.
Upon his return to Chicago, Gates began blurring the lines between studio practice and city-making through development projects that started in Grand Crossing, where he lived. In 2009, he transformed a vacant building on the 6900 block of South Dorchester Avenue into a library. He subsequently redeveloped the former Dante Harper Housing Project into the Dorchester Art and Housing Collaborative, creating 32 units for artists and low-income residents. "Initially, it felt very intuitive and impulsive, like I should try to do something that helps my block," he reflected. "It was a very nascent idea, it wasn't a project yet. And then it grew into a project – then it grew into an institution – then it turned into a contested and beloved idea, where we started thinking about principles of ethical redevelopment."
This organic evolution led to the creation of notable Chicago cultural landmarks including the Stony Island Arts Bank, Kenwood Gardens, and the Currency Exchange Cafe. However, Gates acknowledged that this growth brought inherent tensions between his roles as artist and developer, raising questions about culture and capitalism. "I would understand that if our neighborhoods are going to thrive, they needed capital," he explained. "But my goal was not extraction, exploitation or some kind of targeted taking. My goal was replenishing, restoration, regeneration – even if that meant it was with my own resources most of the time."
The Land School represents Gates' commitment to sharing knowledge gained through years of community development work. The school's first creative partners in residence include International Anthem, a Chicago-based record label known for free jazz and alternative music, Black chamber music collective D-Composed, and DJ Duane Powell. Gates envisions the school starting with performance hosting while establishing residencies and opportunities for archives previously housed at the Arts Bank, as well as craft-based and process-driven programs.
"I'm part of a radical tradition of self-empowered people who understood that there was value in trying to create a collective consciousness around land," Gates stated. "If we were all excited about taking all of these buildings that have been forgotten and are no longer accessible, [then] we would be actively in the process of the reclamation of our neighborhoods and our culture." The school will serve as Rebuild Foundation's primary focus for the foreseeable future, functioning as a central location that unites work across the organization's other properties.
This transition also extends to Gates' artistic practice, as he plans to explore more intimate aspects of his work after years of creating large-scale installations for international exhibitions. "I'm becoming more and more interested in the objects for everyday people," he said. "It may be that the future of my work becomes smaller and quieter and more affordable, and it's made to be touched and loved by people every day." He expressed gratitude for two decades of international recognition while acknowledging his readiness for change. "I felt really fortunate for the last two decades to have an art practice that allowed me to travel the world and to meet lots of interesting people and have museum exhibitions in different places," Gates said.
Reflecting on his current position, Gates emphasized his evolving relationship with institutional validation. "Now, I feel like I have more command than I've ever had of my ideas and the things I want to say, but I don't need a museum in order to say them, I'm happy to say them at home." He also praised the strength of local institutions including the Blanc Gallery, South Side Community Art Center, and DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. "I think it's time for me to get out of the way and make space for the next generation of planners, builders, bankers, cultural leaders, neighbors," he concluded, emphasizing his commitment to empowering others to continue the vital work of community transformation and cultural preservation.
