LIVE: The Obama Foundation Summit

Kirk,

My name is Theaster Gates and I'm an artist from the South Side of Chicago. In a few minutes, I'll be speaking at the first-ever Obama Foundation Summit, right here in my hometown.

You should join us -- watch the official livestream at 4:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. CT today.

Before you tune in, I'd like to share a little bit about myself, and how I ended up attending the Obama Foundation Summit:

I'm a sculptor, and working with my hands taught me how to reimagine ordinary materials. From a simple block of clay I've learned how to shape new vessels, push boundaries, create beautiful things -- and these lessons from sculpture eventually expanded beyond the confines of my studio.

I began to take notice of the realities of my neighborhood -- everywhere I looked buildings were abandoned and lifeless. Yet these abandoned buildings did not discourage me -- I found that my work with sculpture inspired me to see the potential in these buildings. Where others saw poverty and desertion, I saw opportunity.

Once I got enough money together, I bought and revived a building on my block. I began by using this building on Dorchester Avenue for performances and, eventually, more and more community events. Significant people from Chicago began coming out, and I saw that this property helped transform the way people saw the South Side, which is so important in a community like ours. This building, now known as the Archive House, proved that art plays a meaningful role in creating spaces that foster community engagement and inspire shared humanity.

That's what I'll be speaking about this afternoon, and I hope you'll join me for that, plus many, many more discussions led by some people I'm truly humbled to join:

https://www.obama.org

Don't miss out --

Theaster Gates

Link to Donate today to support the Obama Foundation's work: https://go.obama.org/page/contribute/support-our-work-r?utm_medium=email&utm_source=obamafound&utm_content=4&utm_campaign=20171031_OF_summit_gates_s3&source=20171031_OF_summit_gates_s3&utm_expid=.kDI5kkMoTyqmSsrdX-uSrw.1&utm_referrer=