Big Ideas in Art and Culture: Rick Lowe

Rick Lowe spoke at the Kitchener City Hall as part of the Big Ideas in Art and Culture lecture series. 

 

Houston-based artist Rick Lowe is the founder of Project Row Houses, an arts and cultural community located in Houston, Texas. In 1993, moved by the imminent demolition of several blocks of shotgun-style houses in the neighbourhood - one of the city's oldest African American communities - Lowe came up with a plan to preserve the neighbourhood's historic homes and provide essential services for its residents. Project Row Houses has created homes for single mothers and their children, residency spaces for artists to create new work with the local community, health centres, community gardens, and more. Originally occupying a group of twenty-two houses covering one and a half city blocks, Project Row Houses has grown to include over forty renovated properties, containing exhibition spaces, a literary center, a multimedia performance art space, offices, low-income housing, and other amenities.