Perry Ave Commons

Sweet Water Foundation

Funding Received: 2016
Chicago, IL
$300,000
Funding Period: 1 year and 11 months
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Internationally acclaimed designer, Emmanuel Pratt (founder of the Sweet Water Foundation), is working with local residents to counter disinvestment and catalyze economic activity in the Washington Park and Englewood neighborhoods of Chicago, IL. The Perry Ave Commons will consist of the “Thought Barn,” an art gallery and reflection space that will repurpose two foreclosed homes; public art installations and a pocket park as infill on adjacent vacant properties; and two community greenhouses. This will be a case study for inclusive, equitable community economic development that integrates housing, art, food security, education, sustainability, and environmental justice.

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See below for recent updates, press, and events from this project

press
Feb 17, 2020
Wielding design as a tool for empowering underserved communities, these visionary Black architects and designers are paving the way for a more ethical future. Read More
press
Oct 15, 2019
Ideas like urban acupuncture and biofeedback belie the simplicity behind Sweet Water Foundation’s mission—to help folks in blighted neighborhoods reclaim their humanity. Those paying attention... Read More
press
Oct 14, 2019
It’s late afternoon and the rush-hour commuter trains streak north and south through a battered stretch of Chicago’s South Side. Passengers gazing out the window... Read More
press
May 24, 2018
Sweet Water Foundation is a non-profit based in Chicago that builds urban farms, cultural centers, and education hubs that serve as anchors for social and... Read More
press
Mar 28, 2018
Want a reason to feel hopeful? We got 50. Meet the people who are cooking up the boldest, most ambitious solutions to humanity's biggest challenges... Read More
blog
Chicago’s Perry Avenue Commons—a series of aquaponic farms, community gardens, and art spaces—is demonstrating how an “inclusive, art-inspired, and agriculture-fed approach to neighborhood development” can...Read more
blog
Over the past several years, Chicago has been highlighted in the media as a ‘tale of two cities’: one of them safe and prosperous, the...Read more