Theaster Gates

5 out of 5
1 review

Artist, Urbanist, Professor, Director of Arts and Public Life at the University of Chicago; Founder & President of Rebuild Foundation

Chicago, IL, USA
Live Event: $10,000 - $20,000 Virtual Event: $10,000 - $20,000 More Fee Info
Business, Creativity, Innovation, Leadership, TED
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Theaster Gates Biography

Theaster Gates is an American artist, urbanist, and professor whose work spans social practice, performance, institution-building, painting, and sculpture. Gates has developed a career at the intersection of contemporary art, community development, and cultural preservation. He began working with clay at Iowa State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science, before studying pottery in Tokoname, Japan. He later received a Master of Arts in fine arts and religious studies from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and a Master of Arts in urban planning from Iowa State. These diverse disciplines inform a practice focused on both rebuilding communities and creating art.

Gates’s art responds to disinvestment in African American urban communities, particularly following the 2008 financial crisis. His work addresses the significance of formal archives in preserving Black cultural forms and challenges established artistic canons, including post-painterly abstraction and color field painting. Gates creates sculptures using clay, tar, and repurposed building materials, transforming elements from urban neighborhoods into new works. The proceeds from these sculptures often support the rehabilitation of city blocks, linking fine art with urban renewal.

One of Gates’s most recognized urban initiatives, the "Dorchester Projects," has transformed a distressed neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, converting nearly 40 abandoned buildings into an arts hub and community destination.

Gates’s nonprofit, Rebuild Foundation, manages projects in Chicago such as the Stony Island Arts Bank, Black Cinema House, Dorchester Art and Housing Collaborative, Archive House, and Listening House, while also supporting initiatives across the Midwest. The Stony Island Arts Bank houses the book collection of John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines; the record collection of Frankie Knuckles, a pioneer of house music; and slides from the collections of the University of Chicago and the Art Institute of Chicago. Many of Gates’s works reflect his African American identity and the broader struggle for civil rights, incorporating materials like fire hoses and organizing events centered on soul food and choral performances by the Black Monks of Mississippi, an experimental musical ensemble he leads.

Gates has exhibited internationally, including at the Whitney Biennial in New York and the Venice Biennale. He designed the Serpentine Pavilion for Serpentine Galleries, and the New Museum in New York presented a major midcareer survey titled "Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces," highlighting his influences from family to writers and artists such as bell hooks and Sam Gilliam. The Smart Museum of Art presented "Theaster Gates: Unto Thee," an exhibition that placed his work within a traditional museum context. His art is included in the collections of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Tate in London, among others.

Gates has received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the World Cultural Council Award, the Isamu Noguchi Award, the Friedrich Kiesler Prize for Architecture and Art, the Royal Institute of British Architects honor, the World Economic Forum Crystal Award, the J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, the Nasher Sculpture Prize, the Sprengel Museum Kurt Schwitters Prize, and the Artes Mundi 6 prize. He has also been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and was named a medalist in the Established Artists category at the Art Basel Awards. Gates serves as a professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Visual Arts and the College, as well as Senior Advisor for Cultural Innovation and Advisor to the Dean. His work demonstrates a commitment to the idea that culture is a powerful tool for transforming communities and restoring dignity to overlooked places and people.

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Speaker profile last updated by AAE Talent Team on 04/23/2026.

Theaster Gates Videos

Highlights from a town hall lecture with Theaster Gates in Dallas for ...

Highlights from a town hall lecture with Theaster Gates in Dallas for ...

Theater Gates engages in an extensive conversation about his sculptural practice with interlocutors and the general public in Dallas on April 6, ...

Artist Talk: Theaster Gates on the Transformative Power of Art ...

Artist Talk: Theaster Gates on the Transformative Power of Art ...

Theaster Gates, artist and innovator in the field of social practice, reflects on his commitment to bridging the gap between art and life through ...

Lecture by Theaster Gates - YouTube

Lecture by Theaster Gates - YouTube

Recorded Tuesday, September 27, 2011, as part of the Design and Craft Lecture Series, Theaster Gates presented in Timken Lecture Hall on ...

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  • What topics does Theaster Gates speak about?

    Theaster Gates is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Business, Creativity, Innovation, Leadership, TED

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    Theaster Gates generally travels from Chicago, IL, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.

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Theaster Gates is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics. The estimated speaking fee range to book Theaster Gates for your event is $10,000 - $20,000. Theaster Gates generally travels from Chicago, IL, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Natalie Nixon, Tony Fadell, Tiffany Shlain, Jimmy Wales and Richard Florida. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Theaster Gates for an upcoming live or virtual event.

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