The Graham Foundation

The Graham Foundation provides grants for projects (see library) and now offers art exhibitions to the public. They continue to expand their exhibition space, initially only the bottom floor was shown and the second was offices, but now the second floor has been included into the exhibition space. The building has very high ceiling and lots of woodwork on the floors, stairs, wall panels, framing, ceiling beams... I can see how it would have been too expensive for its original owners to maintain.

The exhibit that we went to as a class examined a number of problems in urban areas, and how different people in different cities answered those problems. Some of the responses were serious, and had been implemented by city officials and architects such as the elevated farm in a park in Queens, NYC, while others were more silly, and more meant to make a statement, rather than be practical, such as the suits that fit over park bench handles meant to prevent you from napping.

One thing we talked about in the ballroom after seeing the exhibition was how some of this stuff seemed like very cool ideas, and it made people feel bad that it wasn't practical in Chicago. People felt upset that some of these guerilla answers to society's problems weren't being implemented near us, and that this exhibition, while showing ideas from around the world, didn't really do anything in terms of change.

I disagree. Creative thinking is an important aspect in art, perhaps the most important aspect, and as designers and artists, we should be able to see the things that are being done around the world, and consider their effect and how they could be implemented in Chicago. Rather than feeling depressed that things aren't changing around us, we need to take the seed that was planted in our heads from that exhibition, and organize our friends around us to make some of those changes viable in our own communities. Maybe we can't have goats roaming around our parks cutting the grass and fertilizing the soil, but we should be able to think about that solution, and consider ways in which we could alter it to make it more suitable to the Chicago climate and Chicago's laws. Perhaps, instead, communities could take ownership of their parks and work together to come up with solutions instead of simply expecting the Chicago Park District to fix everything. Perhaps a group of friends tired of seeing an empty lot could go in at night and plant flowers and crops. Perhaps someone can do some research and find out if the L.A. public property-fruit tree law exists in Chicago as well, or they could look up where all of the hidden cameras in Chicago's loop and other areas are so that those looking to avoid them can do so.

This exhibition wasn't meant to simply be looked at, it was meant to be thought about, and meant for those who see it to turn around and create change within their own communities.