Revival

Frankie M. Brown, Andres L. Hernandez, L. Anton Seals Jr

Revival is envisioned as a hybrid arts “happening” and public forum that highlights local and national models of community-driven development through the arts, and seeks to broaden the level of local citizen participation and engagement in community improvement activities. Utilizing a large tent structure as its main gathering space, Revival will consist of curated presentations and public dialogues facilitated around the topic of arts-based community development. In addition, smaller tents and designated outdoor spaces will support ancillary activities for the event, including hands- on workshops, communal arts activities, microcinema screenings, and a community “dance party.”

Revival takes its form and name from the tradition of religious revival meetings, in which ministers and fellow church members fulfill their evangelical missions by traveling to communities across the country, pitching large tents to serve as temporary houses of worship, spreading the word of God in order to attract new followers, and after a few days, packing up and moving on to the next community. Revival will operate in a similar, yet secular fashion: over the course of three days, the project organizers, working collaboratively with local institutions, organizations, artists, and everyday citizens, will stage Revival as a temporary public art event at a predetermined outdoor site in one of Chicago’s redeveloping neighborhoods.

As ministers sought locations for revival meetings where there were few religious institutions, the project organizers keenly understand that the physical location of Revival will be critical to its impact upon and relevancy for the local community in which it is hosted. In light of this, Revival is intended to be held within Chicago neighborhoods where redevelopment has been planned or promised in the recent past, but has stalled or slowed to a halt for myriad reasons. With this in mind, the project organizers have identified the Stateway Corridor in the Bronzeville neighborhood as a potential site for this year’s iteration of Revival. The Stateway Corridor, once notorious for its seemingly endless blocks of large-scale public housing, has now been leveled to a clean slate, with the majority of residents moved to other parts of the city and beyond. While plans exist for recreating the area into a mixed-income community welcoming of the previous residents, there are only a few pockets of completed replacement housing, and construction is inconsistent at best. Much of the Stateway Corridor currently exists as large swaths of green space, with no signs remaining of the previous housing developments. Given the condition of land and the legacies of redevelopment inscribed upon its physical surfaces, the Stateway Corridor is directly connected to the mission of Revival, and will be treated as a local case study that drives much of the discussion over the course of the event.

Although Revival is conceived as a dialogue-driven, temporary public event, the project organizers seek to channel this dialogue into relevant local action at the close of the event. While three-days is scarcely enough time to fully address relevant issues, Revival is intended to serve as a catalyst and inspiration for future arts-driven development activities by local stakeholders. As such, the project organizers seek to partner directly with local institutions, organizations, artists, and everyday citizens in the Bronzeville neighborhood to implement Revival and, most importantly, strategize post-event activities that will continue the dialogue at a local level. Additionally, proceeds raised through small donations from event participants and other sources will be used to establish a small grants fund for related arts projects in the local community; this fund is intended to be locally administered by a Bronzeville organization, and will ideally be replenishable over the course of a few years.

By the same token as revival meetings, the project organizers intend for Revival to appear, occur, and disappear just as soon as it arrives, leaving a brief, but lasting impression upon all participants, and moving on to new neighborhoods to continue its mission. While the concept of revival meetings remains a source of inspiration, Revival has no religious intentions or connections. On the contrary, it is conceived as a type of arts-based civic engagement project, and a form of secular evangelism focused on the potential role and impact of the arts in community development activities.