October 7, 2011
at Blanc Gallery and sites along King Drive
Chicago, IL
 

The Future’s Past was a curatorial and archival project that consisted of several public window installations and a collaborative exhibition completed as part of a Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC) Fellowship with the University of Chicago. It combined architecture, technology, collaborative design, and community memory to create an introductory glimpse into the histories of Chicago’s Black Metropolis, using the archives of the member institutions of the BMRC as a starting point. Geographically, the project was guided by five significant buildings along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (formerly known as Grand Boulevard and South Parkway): The Supreme Life Insurance Company building (the physical birthplace of Johnson Publishing Company), the mansion of Lutrelle “Lu” and Jorja Palmer, the Metropolitan Funeral Systems Association (where Blanc Gallery and Chicago Defender are located), The Regal Theater, and The Savoy Ballroom.

Artists Stephen Flemister, Krista Franklin and Amanda Williams created a collaborative installation of their distinct styles using my research into these buildings and the neighborhood as their point of departure. Over the run of the exhibition, I continued to conduct research and the artists continued adding and evolving the installation. 

The purpose of this project was to give an artistic translation and interpretation of Bronzeville’s history in multiple forms, particularly its media and venue legacies. It was an exhibition, a publicly accessible and open online platform of research, and a public art offering for my neighbors in Bronzeville–to show my reverence for this neighborhood and to remind them of the history within the streets and buildings where they live their everyday lives. Through this project I also hoped to introduce the archives of the BMRC and other resources to a new audience in order to showcase the rich history found in these collections and promote the use of the archives to anyone wanting to indulge their curiosities.

Featured Artists: Stephen Flemister, Krista Franklin and Amanda Williams

PROJECT WEBSITE

Photos by Devin Cain & Sixty Inches From Center.