Rick Lowe is a Houston, Texas-based artist, community activist and founder of Project Row Houses, an arts and cultural community located in a historically significant and culturally charged neighborhood in Houston.
Houston's definition of a "row house" is different from ours in Philly, referring to the small, freestanding "shotgun-style" houses, which Lowe recognized as "the perfect opportunity to pursue the creation of a new form of art." Since 1993, Project Row Houses campus has grown to 40 properties; including 12 artist exhibition and/or residency spaces, seven houses for young mothers, artist residencies, office spaces, a community gallery, a park, low-income residential and commercial spaces.
Lowe will discuss how Project Row Houses has incorporated the preservation of its distinctive buildings and the character of the historic 3rd Ward into its community-building work.
GRAY AREA is an experiment and public dialogue to encourage new ways of thinking about older buildings in Philadelphia and beyond. Learn more and join the conversation at the GRAY AREA website, on Facebook or Twitter.
GRAY AREA is a project of the University of the Arts and DesignPhiladelphia of the Center for Architecture and is supported by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Preservation Provocateur Rick Lowe's appearance is in partnership with the African American Museum in Philadelphia.