An Old Sicilian Honey Press in the Buscemi Museum.

Learn more about the Pruitt Igoe Bee Sanctuary by following us in the media.

PRUITT-IGOE ART
By Kelly Shindler, Bad At Sports 

2013 Creative Capital in Emerging Fields

Juan William Chavez wants to inspire new ideas for Pruitt-Igoe
By Diane Toroian Keaggy, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Review: Well deserved buzz for Juan William Chavez
By Sarah Hermes Griesbach, St. Louis Beacon

An SAIC alumnus hopes to transform a fading Midwest metropolis one community at a time.
by Brandi Kulakowski

2012 Guggenheim fellow
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

2012 Graham Foundation exhibition grant
Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary,
Laumeier Sculpture Park, St. Louis
Oct 27, 2012 to Jan 20, 2013

Walking St. Louis with artists — and making back-home comparisons
04/18/12 By Andy Sturdevant

Best of 2011: Part 6 | Blog | Frieze Publishing
Jan 01, 2012 by Dominic Molon

art :21 blog Of Monuments and Memorials: St. Louis Modernism and Juan William Chávez’s Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary
July 26th, 2011 by Francesca Wilmott

Temporary Art Review Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary: A Conversation with Juan William Chávez
Jun 9, 2011 by Marie Heilich

This creative placemaking initiative aims to transform the urban forest where the Pruitt-Igoe housing development once stood into a public space that preserves the remaining 33 acres of green space and cultivates community through beekeeping and urban agriculture. Drawing parallels to the depleting population of bees (colony collapse disorder) and the challenges of activating vacant space in post industrial “shrinking cities”, the project intends to redirect the conversation surrounding Pruitt-Igoe by developing creative strategies that both memorialize the past and provide opportunity for the future. By working tougher, Pruitt-Igoe can end on a positive note by transforming one of the worst failures of public housing into a leading example of revitalization.

ABOUT the Artitst

Born in Lima, Peru, Juan William Chàvez is an artist and cultural activist who explores the potential of space through creative initiatives that address community and cultural issues. He has exhibited at venues such as Art in General, Contemporary Art Museum Saint Louis, White Flag Projects and Van Abbemuseum. Chàvez founded Boots Contemporary Art Space (2006-2010), a non-profit organization that offered support to emerging artists and curators. Since 2010, Chàvez has focused on socially-engaged projects and collaborations in North Saint Louis. Projects include Urban Expression for the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, Pruitt-Igoe Bee Sanctuary and Northside Workshop. He has received awards and grants from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Art Matters and the Gateway Foundation. Chàvez holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Grantee Kindle Project Fund of the Common Counsel Foundation