About

The Vision

A Living Landmark

One of Theaster Gates’s most notable land art projects, Stony Island Arts Bank is a living landmark — a space for public exhibition, free artistic programming, creative residencies, radical archival stewardship of undercared-for Black cultural objects, and renegade urban planning. Acquired by Gates in 2013, the building anchors his decades-long commitment to Chicago’s South Side as a central site for world-class art and culture.

Now, long-time friend Heiji Choy Black joins as business partner and operator, overseeing the institution’s next chapter. Together with Gates, she extends its radical vision through two new hospitality concepts: Han Cha, a Korean-inspired high-tea salon, and Yunomi, a companion bar program centered on the handleless Japanese teacup.

The Building

A Community Bank, 1923

Designed by William Gibbons Uffendell and built in 1923, the bank at 68th and Stony Island was once a vibrant community savings and loan. By the eighties, the branch had closed and the building remained vacant and deteriorating for decades.

The Restoration

Reopened by Theaster Gates, 2015

In 2015, the building was radically restored and reopened by Theaster Gates. Today, Stony Island Arts Bank provides the South Side of Chicago with 17,000 square feet of space for innovation in contemporary art and archival practice.

The Archives

The Johnson Publishing Library

One of the most monumental archival collections gifted to Theaster Gates is the Johnson Publishing Company Library, housed on the second floor — a collection of books and periodicals donated by the Johnson Publishing Company (JPC), publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines.

The collection includes JPC publications from the 1940s to the present day, alongside the in-house library once used by JPC editors and writers.

Today

A Permanent Home for the Work

Stony Island Arts Bank reopens Friday, June 5 as a permanent exhibition space for Theaster Gates’ work, alongside friends and collaborators. Visitors are welcome to experience the work in person — over a cup of tea, or a cocktail at the bar.