Amanda Williams: How Can Color Bring New Life To Old Houses?

NPR | By NPR/TED Staff

Published April 9, 2021 at 9:12 AM EDT

Part 2 of the TED Radio Hour episode Revitalize

Back in 2015, Chicago's Englewood neighborhood was lined with blocks of houses tagged for demolition. Before they were torn down, artist Amanda Williams used color to bring them back to life.

About Amanda Williams

Amanda Williams is a Chicago-based visual artist, and a visiting professor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago. She has previously served as a visiting assistant professor of architecture at Cornell University and Washington University in St. Louis.

Through her Color(ed) Theory project, Williams repainted and photographed eight abandoned houses in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood. Her work has also been featured in 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, and a solo exhibition at the MCA Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago, and Pulitzer Arts Foundation in St. Louis.

Williams completed her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University.

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As a part of her Color(ed) Theory project, Chicago-based artist Amanda Williams painted an abandoned house in a bright shade of turquoise that she calls "ultrasheen."