February 3, 2005

'The Robert Taylor Project'

"[These images] capture a way of life that is fast disappearing from the landscape of Chicago and other American cities," said journalist and Medill lecturer Stephan Garnett.

The Robert Taylor Homes — once 28 towering buildings stretching along Chicago’s South State Street for 16 city blocks — are the subject of a photography exhibit at the Medill School of Journalism from Feb. 2 through April 1. The black and white photos will be unveiled at an opening at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 2. A reception will follow.

Both the opening and “The Robert Taylor Project” exhibit are free and open to the public. They will be in the lobby of the McCormick Tribune Center, 1870 Campus Drive. The exhibit can be viewed Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The exhibit opening will include a film about the photographs and a question-and-answer session with photographer Jack Bridges and Stephan Garnett. Garnett, a journalist who teaches at Medill, wrote the text accompanying the photos.

“The Robert Taylor Project” is the culmination of a three-year effort by Bridges to create a visual record of a vanishing community. He began documenting Robert Taylor Homes and other Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) communities while earning a master’s degree at Medill. He chose the Taylor Homes in part because, as the nation’s largest public housing community, it is practically synonymous with the high-rise housing projects built in the 1960s.

For further information about the exhibit and opening, call (847) 491 5401.