Rick Lowe -- Houston Artist wins $650k MacArthur "Genius Grant"

heypartner · Sep 17, 2014

Congrats to Rick Lowe, the founder of Project Row Houses in the Third Ward.

http://www.chron.com/entertainment/...-advocate-win-MacArthur-5760058.php?cmpid=bna

Houston will benefit from two MacArthur "genius grants" announced Tuesday night.

Local artist Rick Lowe, the 53-year-old founder of Project Row Houses in Houston's Third Ward, has been named a 2014 MacArthur Fellow. The prestigious award for creativity comes with a $625,000 grant to be paid during five years, with no strings attached.

John Henneberger of Austin, an affordable-housing advocate, also won one of the 21 awards. Henneberger, 59, said he intends to use his grant to help low-income neighborhood advocates gain more leverage in their struggles for better housing, more equitable public services and relief from environmental racism. Houston will be a particular focus, he said.

"Houston is of special interest because it is the place where we have seen more effective, democratic community engagement on issues than anyplace else in the state," he said. In addition, "conditions in the neighborhoods are among the most unequal of any place in the state that I've ever encountered."

Lowe's Project Row Houses, which now spans six blocks and includes 71 structures, was a collection of dilapidated shotgun houses when he envisioned something entirely different: the revitalization of a historical piece of the Third Ward and a place where artists, young single mothers, kids needing a safe haven after school could meet and learn from one another. Twenty years later, it has served as a model for similar redevelopment projects in Dallas, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Los Angeles - even South Korea.

"Rick pioneered a form of art that had no name," executive director Linda Shearer said. "Now his concept is taught in undergraduate and graduate art programs. It's called 'creative place making' and 'social practice.' What's remarkable is that Rick was on this track of socially engaged art and developing community long before anybody thought about it. He imbued those shotgun houses with value that people respect and treasure today."

When President Obama learned about Lowe, Shearer said, he appointed him to the National Council on the Arts.

Lowe hasn't decided what to do with his infusion of cash. "I have to be thoughtful about the best way to use the money," he said. "This is not something I'll play around with and throw away. I do want to have a big impact. And a lot of the money will go to the Third Ward."
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MiddleMan · Sep 17, 2014

Good read, now I need to go visit 3rd ward.

tomato · Sep 18, 2014

It'll be hot, take a parasol.

HR Dept · Sep 18, 2014

Saw a story on this guy a year or so ago, need more like him.

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Rick Lowe -- Houston Artist wins $650k MacArthur "Genius Grant"

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