Rick Lowe, Joseph Beuys & Project Row Houses: Andrea Greer on Social Sculpture (Pt 2) | Yo Munir! Ep 36
Andrea Greer is Senior Advisor for Strategy & Research at Project Row Houses in Houston — the Third Ward institution behind the recent restoration of the Eldorado Ballroom.
In Part 2 of our conversation, Andrea walks us through the founding story of Project Row Houses — seven Black artists in Houston in the late '80s, a bus tour where city leaders called Third Ward's shotgun shacks "the most dangerous block" and proposed razing them, and Rick Lowe's now-famous response: "this is the bones of our culture and our community." We get the influences behind PRH (artist John Biggers, Joseph Beuys's concept of social sculpture), the wild coalition of funders who made it happen (the Menil Collection, Chevron, the NEA), and what 33 years of social practice in one neighborhood has actually produced — a grocery distribution that started in the pandemic, the Eldorado Ballroom rehab, and a generation of Black artists (Theaster Gates, Mark Bradford, Amanda Williams) whose work traces back to PRH.
Andrea also gives us three things to remember about creativity, an honest moment of self-reflection, and her karaoke fantasy playlist — which kicks off a freewheeling mixtape segment that links Curtis Mayfield, Joe Strummer's "Johnny Appleseed," Beuys's 7,000 oaks at Kassel, and a Jason Moran instrumental medley.
If you haven't heard Part 1, don't worry, Part 2 stands alone. But you'll like this even more if you do.
Chapters
00:00 — Social sculpture, defined
01:30 — Fundraising as sales ("I sold abortion rights to men")
05:00 — The seven founding artists of Project Row Houses
09:00 — "The bones of our culture": how PRH began
16:00 — "You gotta eat, man": pandemic pivot
19:00 — The Eldorado Ballroom: held in trust for the community
24:00 — Three things to remember about creativity
26:30 — Mixtape: Andrea, Rob, and Munir's picks
Mentioned
Project Row Houses, Eldorado Ballroom, Rick Lowe, John Biggers, Joseph Beuys (and 7000 Oaks at Kassel), Amanda Williams, Theaster Gates, Mark Bradford, the Menil Collection, Texas Southern University, Emancipation Park (Houston), the Lulu Foundation, the Ford Foundation
On the mixtape
Freda Payne · Scarface · Jason Moran · Robert Glasper · Jackson Browne · Jimmy Cliff (The Harder They Come) · Erykah Badu · Living Colour · Natalie Merchant · Curtis Mayfield · Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros · Rodriguez (Searching for Sugar Man) · The Avener
Yo Munir! is a weekly podcast about practice and creativity, hosted by Munir Haddad (Kiosk) and Rob Haddad.
🔗 Andrea Greer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreacgreer/ · Project Row Houses — https://projectrowhouses.org/ · The Eldorado Ballroom (PRH restoration) — https://projectrowhouses.org/our-work/neighborhood-development/eldorado-ballroom/ · Munir / Kiosk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/munirhaddad/ · Rob Haddad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-haddad-88670/ · Yo Munir! Ep 36 playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2LQyCmk5cCPiXr6yRzTBUX?si=yTsUp-CcR9ukgo7LeswXOA
