The Rose Art Museum’s satellite gallery Rosebud, will be presenting the American premiere of Theaster Gates’ Gone are the Days of Shelter and Martyr (2014), March 3 – April 3. First presented at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Gates’ powerful and highly acclaimed video takes place in the now-demolished Roman Catholic Church of St. Laurence on the South Side of Chicago. Filmed amongst the wreckage and rubble of the church interior with his blues-gospel collaborators, the Black Monks of Mississippi, the work responds to a lack of support and investment in urban holy spaces within poor and black communities.  

The 2015-16 Brandeis University Richman Distinguished Fellow in Public Life at Brandeis, Theaster Gates will be in residence on the Waltham campus from March 21 through March 24. A public talk, “A Cursory Sermon on Art and the City,” will be held on Wednesday, March 23, at 4 p.m. in the Wasserman Cinematheque at the Sachar International Center, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA. For more about the Richman Fellowship, visit www.brandeis.edu/richmanfellow.

Currently housed in a storefront space at 683 Main Street in downtown Waltham, Rosebud is an innovative project that takes art out of the museum and into the community. Always free, the gallery is open Thursday, 1-4 p.m.; Friday 5-8 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Named one of the one hundred most important people in the art world by Art Review and "Innovator of the Year" by the Wall Street Journal, Theaster Gates is a multimedia artist, activist, social engineer, curator, and cultural entrepreneur. His message that art and creativity are engines for attacking poverty, revitalizing neighborhoods and providing opportunity is motivated by a strong social justice agenda.

Of particular note are his founding of the Dorchester Projects and Arts Incubator in Chicago, which turned abandoned buildings into cultural hubs. He also founded Rebuild Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on culturally driven redevelopment and affordable space initiatives in under-resourced communities, which currently manages projects in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood of Chicago.

As director of Arts + Public Life at the University of Chicago, Gates builds creative connections on Chicago's South Side through artist residencies, arts education, and artist-led projects and events. Through a newly announced partnership between Arts + Public Life and the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, Gates will lead a research- and practice-based initiative in its mission to foster synergies between artists and public policy practitioners with the goal of making a direct impact on local, state, federal, and international policymakers in community development decisions.  

Rosebud aims to activate public engagement with contemporary art through curated exhibitions and programs in the center of the city of Waltham The project supports the city's long-term goals for economic growth and cultural vibrancy by attracting new visitors to the neighborhood and inspiring opportunities for partnerships with local businesses and arts-related organizations.  

In addition to increasing off-campus awareness of the Rose and expanding our audience, Rosebud aims to serve as a hub from which new ideas might radiate and benefit the people in the community. Over the last several months, Rosebud has hosted programs led by the Waltham Mills Artists Association. This spring, the museum plans to connect the Brandeis University Service Clubs, whose students are deeply engaged with various organizations within Waltham, partner with the Waltham Boys and Girls Club and other community-based groups, in offering Rosebud as a platform for cooperative programming.

Rosebud is made possible through the generous support of the Sun Hill Foundation in New York.

For more information, visit http://www.brandeis.edu/rose/bud.html.