Cabrini Green church could be arts and community space
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Elliston and Reynolds in front of Strangers Home Missionary Baptist Church at 617 W. Evergreen. Photo: Courtesy of Miguel Cisneros.
Two former Cabrini Green residents are working to transform a long-abandoned church into an arts and community space.
Why it matters: Strangers Home Missionary Baptist Church is a symbol of the gentrification of the Near North Side neighborhood, a lone building surrounded by vacant land and a Target.
Driving the news: Cabrini Art House founders and longtime friends Marques "Merk" Elliston and Cher'Don Reynolds want to breathe new life into the whitewashed building by giving people a place to congregate, but they also say it represents home for the many residents displaced from Cabrini Green.
Flashback: In 1972, muralist William Walker painted "All of Mankind" on the church exterior with the image of men embracing and the names of murdered Civil Rights Movement leaders.
- By 2016, the mural had been painted over, and a private developer now owns the boarded-up church.
The vibe: The friends envision Cabrini Art House as a place for people to learn the history of Cabrini Green, an exhibition art space, a shared workspace, and a spot to watch movies based in Cabrini, like "Candyman" or "Cooley High."
What they're saying: "What happened to the church happened to us," Reynolds tells Axios. "Let's find a way to reclaim this land, to un-whitewash the murals but also take away the whitewashing of our story from where we were raised."
What's next: Elliston and Reynolds are fundraising to buy the building and hope to host walking tours of the neighborhood this summer.