WBEZ's Natalie Moore visits theNate
“I believe passionately in art … that it is one of our brain’s organizing systems … one of the evolutionary reasons that it has survived and thrived for tens of thousands of years is that it does raise our aspirations and it helps us to imagine and achieve great goals.”
Amid buzzing cicadas, guests visiting the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park (theNate) at Governors State University (GovState) recently took a seat at the proverbial table to hear a historical perspective on race in Chicago area housing, as well as the impact on art and culture.
Award-winning journalist and author Natalie Y. Moore led more than 50 supporters gathered at artist Dan Peterman’s “Running Table” on a “fact-finding” mission to discover how they chose to live where they do.
“There is an idea of choice…Why did you choose to live in a particular neighborhood or suburb? What enabled that choice? What banks allowed you to have that choice?” Moore asked rhetorically.
Her career has examined redlining practices and restrictive covenants that produced racially segregated housing, education and cultural patterns across the Chicago region.
Jeff Stevenson, Director and Curator of theNate, said he invited Moore to explore how the arts are central to community building, placing Peterman’s “Running Table” at the center of the discussion. The 100-foot table, made of recycled plastics on long-term loan from the City of Chicago, exemplifies community, bringing to mind school lunches, church suppers, and the generosity of the Seder table, where there is always room for one more.
In welcoming all to the table, Stevenson thanked leaders and public officials including GovState Trustee Angela Sebastian, theNate Advisory Board members Leona Calvin, Jacqueline Lewis, and Ethel Nicholas, Matteson Trustee N. Keith Chambers, among others for attending the interactive talk, quoted theNate’s founder Lewis Manilow.
' “I believe passionately in art … that it is one of our brain’s organizing systems … one of the evolutionary reasons that it has survived and thrived for tens of thousands of years is that it does raise our aspirations and it helps us to imagine and achieve great goals.” '
Moore said theNate’s natural beauty was beyond what she had imagined and a serene setting for a topic some find difficult. “(This is) something you have to see to really appreciate what kind of oasis this is — the perfect location to have this conversation in the Southland.’’