This virtual conversation addresses the ongoing crisis of lead contamination, its interconnected relationship to health, housing, and the environment in the greater Chicago area, and the status of policy change.

Organized on the occasion of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools Corvus Gallery “Fundred Lab” exhibition (through March 11, 2022), the program features presentations and conversation with Kimberly du Buclet, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) Commissioner; Mel Chin, socially-engaged artist and co-creator of the Fundred Project; Amanda Wiles, Executive Director of S.O.U.R.C.E. Studio; and Bob Palmer, Policy Director of Housing Action Illinois. The program is introduced by Lab student organizer Tech Nix and Corvus Gallery Director Gina Alicea, and moderated by Niya Kelly, State Legislative Director at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless.

The VIVA Chicago! event seeks to engage an intergenerational, city-wide community in conversation, with participants and audience members composed of Lab students, alumni, parents, school administrators, greater Chicago community members and activists, other charter schools, and policy makers. The program will also create an opportunity for the school’s student-led groups to engage in dialogue with panelists during the Q&A.

Program video

VIVA Chicago! [Value, Individual, Voices, Action] is co-presented by Corvus Gallery, S.O.U.R.C.E. Studio, and the Smart Museum of Art, in conjunction with the Toward Common Cause initiative The Chicago Fundred Initiative: A Bill for IL, a creative collaboration focused on lead contamination in water, soil, and housing.