Author(s): Daniel Luis Martinez
This essay examines how social practice art has informed alternative approaches to urban regeneration in Chicago, particularly within historically disinvested African American and Latinx neighborhoods on the South and West Sides. Drawing a distinction between mid-20th-century urban renewal and contemporary regeneration, which emphasizes sustainability, inclusion, and adaptive reuse, the essay argues that artist-driven practices offer models of equitable and culturally grounded transformation. Focusing on three interrelated strategies—to reclaim, reformat, and resist—the essay highlights case studies where the principles of social practice art have been applied with transformative effects to the urban landscape of Chicago. Borderless Studio and Chicago Mobile Makers demonstrate how communities can reclaim neglected spaces through education, participatory design, and collective stewardship. Examples from the artist collective Floating Museum illustrate how public infrastructure can be reformatted into cultural corridors and mobile art venues through the activation of urban transit systems and natural resources. Furthermore, work from the artists Edra Soto and Amanda Williams show how an ethos of resistance can challenge dominant narratives of race, value, and space through site-responsive installations and public interventions. Together, these practices expose the limitations of top-down regeneration strategies while underscoring the power of collaborative and community-rooted approaches. Rather than reproducing cycles of displacement or market-driven development, they foreground care, memory, and equity as essential to shaping the city’s future. The essay ultimately contends that Chicago serves as an experimental laboratory for understanding how social practice art can catalyze belonging, resist systemic inequalities, and open new possibilities for urban regeneration grounded in collective agency.
Volume Editors
Reed Kroloff & Francisco J. RodrÃguez-Suárez
ISBN
978-1-944214-52-4