We the Publics… from Bounded
Rationality to Unbounded Possibilities
October 2021 - September 2023 | 3D, Virtual Tour Link Above
Sweet Water Foundation welcomes you to We the Publics...from Bounded Rationality to Unbounded Possibilities, a catalytic assemblage of art, artifacts, and history exploring the many facets and dimensions of the publics and public trust. For over a decade our work has been in the service of cultivating neighborhoods as we live our motto, “There GROWS the Neighborhood.” This exhibit shares the collective works and perspective of the Sweet Water Foundation community to provoke a reframing and reclaiming of the ‘Publics’ for all.
In the nascent weeks of 2017, following the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States, We the Publics…, A Manifesto to Restore Democracy and Truth in the Republic was drafted and exhibited at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Four years later, this proposal for a 28th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America remains more vital than ever. We are living amidst an international crisis of Public Trust; a pervasive unravelling of faith in leadership, a void of common truths, and an absence of a shared humanity at a time when collective action is a precondition for our continued survival. We the Publics... lifts the veil on untold histories and shows us the solutions that lie outside the bounds of economic rationality.
Read more about the exhibit below and take the virtual tour below. Resources are available for further exploration, learning and action.
About the Exhibit
For this show, Sweet Water Foundation's Thought Barn has been split into sections:
Introduction | Outlines the history of the exhibit, examines notions of the “publics,” and introduces the We the Publics… manifesto.
[Re]Constructing Public Memory | In the spirit of Sankofa, the exhibit looks back at the deep, historical contexts of the erosion of public trust in the United States in order to pave a new way forward. This section of the exhibit offers a detailed historical timeline that spans two scales: national across the United States and local to Chicago.
Bounded Rationality | Identifies and examines the underlying paradigm, or mindset, through which our society continually prioritizes economic value through policies and practices at the expense of people and planet.
Unbounded Possibilities | Invites visitors to imagine a new way forward via exploration of the unbounded possibilities of Sweet Water Foundation’s practice of Regenerative Neighborhood Development and the real-life model of The Commonwealth. Introduction to the Exhibit and the We the Publics… Manifesto | Introduces and examines notions of publics and creation of the We The Publics… manifesto;
At the exhibit’s center lies an awe-inspiring model of 3 stages of the neighborhood’s history - 1926, 1958, and 2012 - that illustrates the rapid decline and vacancy of the neighborhood. This model, which is made of reclaimed wood scraps, shows the ecology of absence -- and gives visitors an opportunity to examine the complicated history and continued impacts of redlining and disinvestment on Chicago’s South Side.
CONTRIBUTORS
Sweet Water Foundation Core Team, Fellows, Humans-in-Residence, and Apprentices.
SWF Core Team: Emmanuel Pratt, Jia Lok Pratt, Sam Scardefield, Daniel Salomon, Courtney Hug, Micheal Reynolds, David Snowdy, Rudy Taylor, Jr. , Lucero Flores, Ali Kleiche, and Amanda Wilkerson.
SWF Translator-in-Residence: Kate Mytty
Summer 2021 Urban Ecology Apprentices and Global Fellows: Syanord Carter, Kayley Estoesta, Tusani Gates, Alysse Hines, Sumayyah Sunmade Raji, Knowledge Theodore, Devone Tripp, and Jasmine Uruchima,
