Session 2

Enlisting the Creative Sector as Part of the Solution


More than 25 years ago, artist Rick Lowe helped to transform a block and a half of derelict properties—twenty-two shotgun houses from the 1930s—in Houston’s predominantly African American Third Ward into Project Row Houses, a groundbreaking mix of arts venue and community support center that has strengthened the community and protected the historic district’s character in the face of encroaching gentrification.

A quarter century later, Lowe discusses his other public art projects in communities from Los Angeles to New Orleans to North Dallas, and highlights the power of the creative sector – in partnership with local residents and community leaders – to promote social change, preserve local history, empower residents and revitalize communities.

Speakers

  • Ken Levit, Executive Director, George Kaiser Family Foundation (Bio)
  • Rick Lowe, Featured Artist (Bio)

Resources

Houston’s Most Successful Community Experiment — the Real Story of Project Row Houses (Paper City Magazine)
Project Row Houses melds art and community in the Third Ward (Houston Chronicle)
Artist Rick Lowe says community involvement key to The Greenwood Art Project (Tulsa World)