Place Lab is a catalyst for mindful urban transformation and creative redevelopment for equitable and livable cities. As a creative think tank, Place Lab designs and tests a model of community development driven by arts and culture to be made available to cities and neighborhoods across the country. Our work is rooted in the idea that reinventing abandoned spaces through placemaking opens opportunities in urban communities—both by activating residents and community members to contribute to neighborhood change and by attracting outside investment.
Envisioned by the Arts and Public Life Initiative and its director, Theaster Gates, at the University of Chicago and funded by the Knight Foundation, Place Lab draws on metrics from Gates’s projects and works to export and adapt the lessons learned from these projects into community-led development in Akron, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Gary, Indiana—our demonstration cities. Place Lab believes that communities contain the seeds for their success and facilitates place-based revitalization and reinvestment guided by neighborhood residents and stakeholders.