Theaster Gates & Rebuild Foundation Convene for 10-year Anniversary of Black Artists Retreat

The decennial of Black Artists Retreat, hosted by the artist Theaster Gates and Rebuild Foundation, took place September 15-17, 2023, returning to Chicago after the last two editions were hosted in New York and London, respectively.

Over 100 Black artists, architects, archivists, designers, and creatives from all over the world converged at Gates’ new studio space in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood for “Archive Fever,” a tribute to Okwui Enwezor’s 2008 presentation at the International Center of Photography in New York City. This marked the first Black Artists Retreat to focus on archives, intentionally bringing more academics and archivists into the conversation. Participants were invited to engage in moments of reflection, respite, fellowship, and celebration during a weekend of programming that included conversations led by prominent scholars and artists, and musical performances, including a special performance by Corinne Bailey Rae of her new album Black Rainbows which drew inspiration from the Johnson Publishing Library, a collection of books and periodicals published by the publishers of Ebony and Jet magazines and stewarded by Gates’ Rebuild Foundation at the Stony Island Arts Bank.

Rigorous discussions revolved around questions about the definition of an archive; archiving as creative praxis; archives, estates, and living legacies; and more. Arthur Jafa, Dr. Huey Copeland, Dr. Krista Thompson, Hamza Walker, and Sandra Jackson-Dumont were among the conversational facilitators over the weekend. As Rebuild Foundation looks forward to the completion of St. Laurence, the future home of its creative entrepreneurship program and archives, and examines the history and future of those archives, it was especially important to hold discussions centered around the growing preoccupation with archives in contemporary artistic and creative culture. In part due to the Mellon Archives Innovation Program at Rebuild Foundation, this year’s Black Artists Retreat demonstrated the new possibilities that are created when institutions invest in the connection of archives, artists, and academics. Attendees were able to experience the presentations/performances of all four Mellon Foundation fellows: Corinne Bailey Rae, Dr. Honey Crawford, Yaw Agyeman, and Ben Lamar Gay.

Notable attendees:

• Arthur Jafa
• Athiththan Selvendran, Virgil Abloh Securities
• Bianca Manu
• Carol Adams, former President and CEO of the DuSable Museum of African American History
• Campbell Addy
• Faheem Majeed
• Frederick Dunson, Frankie Knuckles Foundation
• Hamza Walker, LAXart
• Honey Crawford, New York University
• Huey Copeland, University of Pennsylvania
• Immanuel Wilkins
• Jennifer Packer
• Jon Gray, Ghetto Gastro
• Krista Thompson, Northwestern University
• LeRonn Brooks, Getty Research Institute
• Linda Johnson Rice, Johnson Publishing Company
• Louise Bernard, Obama Presidential Center
• Phoebe Collings James
• Pope L
• Romi Crawford, University of Chicago
• Sandra Jackson Dumont, Lucas Museum
• Steffani Jemison
• Theaster Gates
• Tina Post, University of Chicago
• Toni Griffin, Harvard University
• Tony Lewis
• vanessa german
• zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal