Ceramics ARTivism
Ceramics ARTivism
In Spring 2019, students and faculty in the course GLAS 300: Global Asia in Chicago worked with artist, educator, and activist Nicole Marroquin to recreate the buildings and sites that represented solidarity and/or resistance for the oral history narrators that students interviewed. These miniature sculpted clay buildings were made in three hours.
+ American Indian Center (former location in Uptown)
The American Indian Center (AIC) was founded in 1953 to provide community and social services for the Native American population in Uptown. This sculpture represents AIC when it was previously located on 1630 W. Wilson Avenue. It has since been shut down and relocated in Albany Park and what used to be the building for the AIC in Uptown is now renovated into a 24-unit apartment building. Current address: 3401 W Ainslie St, Chicago, IL 60625
+ Institute of Cultural Affairs
Visible from the Lawrence Red Line station, the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) is an eight-story building with a rich history of community-oriented organizations operating inside. Over twenty-five nonprofit organizations reside in this building, which provide social services and support for Uptown residents. This includes the Stone Soup Cooperative which fights for affordable housing for the community. This building is just a couple blocks from the Lawrence House, which has been transformed from affordable housing to luxury condos, displacing longtime residents from their community. Ultimately, the ICA stands not only as a community center but as a center of resistance not only against gentrification and displacement but also negligence of the state to provide for a community that needs help.
+ Lawrence House
Lawrence House was originally built as a luxury apartment hotel in 1929 toward the end of Uptown’s glamour period. As Uptown transitioned from an area that catered mainly to wealthy residents into a neighborhood featuring a sizeable low-income population, the Lawrence House’s 192 tenants became part of Uptown’s SRO housing stock. In 2012, one of Lawrence House’s 192 tenants could pay $140/month out of pocket to live there (with the rest of the rent subsidized by social service program). In 2013, developers bought Lawrence House and completed a $15 million-dollar renovation. In 2019, a roughly 300 sq. ft. studio apartment starts at $1050.
+ Bridgeview Bank – Uptown
The Bridgeview Bank Building, built in the 1920s, is located in the diverse community of Uptown Chicago. Previously called the Sheridan Trust and Savings Bank, the building houses the Asian Americans Advancing Justice Chicago (AAAJ) headquarters, an organization focused on creating social justice and equity for underrepresented communities. Their programs, such as KINETIC, have created remarkable leaders. Through their efforts, AAAJ has also had a hand in changing the CPS World Language Policy to better suit the non-English proficient student population.
+ Lake View Towers
Lake View Towers is comprised of two high-rise buildings at the corner of Clarendon and Wilson Avenue. It has studio, one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The building stands tall with other buildings located in Uptown with gray and white buildings and glass windows. The towers and its residents have a history of resistance and solidarity dating back to 2001when the building was put on sale to make room for luxury apartments. A group of tenants formed an association with the goal of purchasing the building. Under the slogan, "One Team, One Dream," the Lake View Towers Resident Association Inc., successfully purchased the building and became a model of how residents worked in solidarity and resisted forces that were against the community's interests.
+ Wilson Avenue Viaduct
This bridge spans the viaducts on Wilson and Lawrence Avenues under Lake Shore Drive. This was the former location of a large tent city in the Uptown neighborhood which has been dispersed by city officials and the police in September of 2017. Even though the homeless population has been evicted from the viaducts, affordable housing in Uptown continues to decrease and the populace of the tent city has been spread out around Uptown and into other neighborhoods in Chicago.
+ ONE Northside
ONE Northside exemplifies the phrase “united, we stand.” Through community organizing, ONE Northside works to fight for racial, social, and economic justice throughout the Northern neighborhoods of Chicago. The key point of this organization is community whose volunteers help address community issues. With an emphasis on leadership training, ONE Northside proudly mentors the next generation of community leaders.
+ Heartland Health Center
Heartland Health Center’s mission is to “improve the well-being of the communities we serve by providing accessible, high-quality healthcare.” Heartland Health Center is a “federally qualified” social service provider that offers primary, oral, and mental health care services at an affordable rate to patients. This health center offers services to Medicaid and Medicare recipients in addition to the insured. Additionally, free language interpretation for more than 35 languages is provided for patients in need.
+ Wilson Men’s Hotel
The Wilson Men’s Hotel was built as a factory at the turn of the 20th century, and in the 1920s was converted to a 246-unit building that has served as a place of lodging for a large number of Chicago’s poorest men. As a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) unit since the 1950s, the building has taken men from all walks of life, such as immigrants without stable homes, mental health patients seeking refuge after the closure of different institutions, formerly incarcerated individuals, and those with substance abuse issues. However, as of 2018, the tenants are being evicted and displaced following the purchase of a Chicago developer - City Pads -in 2017. City Pads plans to rehabilitate and renovate the building and reduce its size by 75%. This renovation is likely to eliminate another form of affordable housing in Uptown.
+ Voice of the People
This organization was established in 1968 because of the proposal of an urban renewal plan that could have potentially displaced at least 500 household families. Voice of the People managed to save numerous building from gentrification and also found new homes for 250 families.
+ Uplift Community High School
Uplift Community High School was formally established in 2005, but is rooted in a “strong, proud, and just history,” borne out of a three-decade struggle to serve the needs and interests of Uptown residents for affordable housing, decent health care, and a quality education. It was established in the wake of the slated closure of Joan F. Arai Middle School in 2004, and was the result of a grassroots movement in Uptown, dedicated to creating an academically rigorous college preparatory program that equally importantly, supports community involvement and is committed to working for social justice.
+ Graeme Stewart School
Graeme Stewart Elementary School was built in 1905 in the Arts and Crafts style by well-known architect Dwight Perkins, the Graeme Stewart Elementary School was closed by the Chicago Board of Education in 2013. It was subsequently sold for $5.1 million to the developer Morningside to be “redeveloped.” It reopened in Spring 2018 as Stewart School Lofts, a 64-unit luxury apartment building, where classrooms once stood. Needless to say, none of the former students can afford a unit in “their” school today. It stands today both as a symbol of gentrification as well as a sign of resistance that brought many activists, residents, and former students together.
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