Built was a temporary city constructed out of shipping containers in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood in the summer of 2011. For 3 days Built housed an arts district made up of over one hundred local artists whose work, projects, and performances, expanded on the exhibitions theme of alternative activations in the urban environment. During this time Built was open to the public as a dynamic space designed for creative thinking and action. I created Built with the intent to engage the community through a creative re-imagination of social uses for the Urban environment. Our location was an Aldi grocery store parking lot. What was attractive about this spot was that the lot was several times larger than the store patronage. What had once been an open space had become an underutilized urban development. It became mission appropriate to combat that socially dead zone with activation like Built. Participation for Artists was free thanks to the corporate sponsorship Built received. This way the pay barrier was eliminated providing access to the project for artists of diverse cultural backgrounds. This diversity was important to Built as the make-up of participants needed to match the make-up of the city itself. Only a properly represented cross section could speak to the urban environment adeptly.
