Landscape Information
Nestled between South Kenwood Avenue and a parallel alley in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood, over the course of six years, this 1.3-acre, relatively flat site was assembled from thirteen formerly vacant, contiguous lots acquired by artist Theaster Gates and his Rebuild Foundation. The project is part of Gates’s quest for social change through art, agriculture, and community engagement.
Designed by Site Design Group landscape architects, Kenwood Gardens is composed of a series of irregularly shaped “rooms,” set in rectangular arrangement roughly north to south, and marked by walls constructed of salvaged brick. At the garden’s rough center, a flexible communal space for programs and performances is anchored at its western edge by a relatively square metal pavilion with a corrugated roof.
Moving south from the performance area, diagonal wooden boardwalks and paved paths navigate trapezoidal beds richly planted with shrubs, tall grasses, perennials, and flowering trees such as dogwood often found in native prairies. East of the stage, facing allées contain American hornbeam trees, while north of the stage, a rectangular lawn panel is distinguished by a single, mature Siberian elm tree, and an east-west axial connection to a brick archway. From here, the garden’s northeastern room unfolds to a view of an arcing, mown path.
Kenwood Gardens is one of several neighborhood projects conceived and spearheaded by Gates, who, in a 2020 interview, stated that “planting a garden is similar to making a work of art. After you plant the seed, it has the ability to keep giving, and I think art works like that.”
