Theaster Gates, Prada create incubator to support designers of color

Damarr Brown was raised in Harvey by his mother, aunt and grandmother. To help keep him out of trouble, Brown said, the three women would often pull Brown into the kitchen. Before long, he needed no persuasion.

“Once my mother figured out I enjoyed it, she leaned into it,” said Brown. “We watched the Emeril Lagasse Live show together, she would buy me ingredients and challenge me to make things. She made it really fun for me, she really encouraged me to go on that journey.”

That journey took him to the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, and, eventually, to Virtue, 1462 E 53rd St., the Hyde Park restaurant where he’s been chef de cuisine since 2018.

Now, he’s also one of 14 members of the inaugural class of the Dorchester Industries Experimental Design Lab, announced Tuesday.

The Design Lab, a collaboration between Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation and Prada Group, aims to uplift and invest in designers of colors in fashion, architecture and the industrial arts.

“We spent a lot of time watching how many of the fashion houses in the design world and the museum institutions have been acknowledging and celebrating the contributions of Black artists and designers and people of color, but it felt like much of that has been marketing strategy,” said Gates, co-chair of Prada Group’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Council.

He wanted to increase diversity efforts and create a pipeline for designers of color — so he pitched the idea for Design Lab to Prada.

Nearly 200 people were nominated by leaders across the creative industries; those offering potential candidates included writer and director Ava Duvernay and the late designer Virgil Abloh. Two groups of Design Lab nominees will each spend 18 months in the program. With support from Prada, more than $250,000 in stipends for the designers.

Gates said some aspects of the program are still being refined, but the Design Lab will be anchored on the South Side., with trips to Los Angeles and New York to share their work.

“I want to take that knowledge and demonstrate what we’re doing at Virtue and hopefully get more people in Virtue,” said Brown. “I know there’s a lot of people who don’t necessarily feel like they fit anywhere, who want to cook, who want to learn, but don’t see themselves in these restaurants. And I think it’s really hard to see yourself doing something if you don’t see anybody who looks like you doing it.”

For Catherine Sarr, jewelry designer and founder of the company Almasika, the program is a chance to exchange ideas.

Provided/Almasika

“It’s really about innovation,” said Sarr. “It’s going to help me with my practice to think outside of my own industry.”

Sarr was born in Paris and for 10 years, she lived in London, where she came up with the idea for Almasika. When Sarr moved to Chicago in 2016, the city became the jewelry firm’s base of operations. Sarr’s designs have been worn by a slew of celebrities, including actress Reese Witherspoon, musician Alicia Keys and even former first lady Michelle Obama.

Chicago is where Sarr began to consider the social impact her business could have. While Almasika uses recycled gold and responsibly sourced diamonds, Sarr wants to start new projects to give back to the city.

Chicago is “a city with a very strong civic aspect,” Sarr said. “The corporate and the social impact was at the heart of Almasika from the beginning, but it was mainly in terms of sourcing. With Chicago, a city where you are constantly asked, ‘What are you doing for the city?’ I had never thought about social impact this way.”

Sarr isn’t the only one thinking of social impact. Product designer Norman Teague creates furniture he feels tell stories.

Being selected for the Design Lab, Teague said, is a step toward “design coming closer to communities of color.”

“Let’s face it,” he said. “The South Side, the West Side and other parts of Chicago are about to go through some really beautiful changes and transformations. To know that the people within that community can have a hand in that … is crucial.”

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

Teague hopes the Design Lab will be an opportunity for collaboration.

“There’s just a huge impact of learning from one another that can happen,” he said.

Brown is also looking forward to the chance to work with the others chosen for Design Lab, and hopes it leads to events that draw in more designers of color.

“It’s an opportunity to spread more visibility on what we’re doing,” said Brown. “I’ve chosen to try to mentor and develop young culinary artists — mostly of color. I want to continue to provide a global space for people who look like me who just can’t knock on any restaurant’s backdoor and get a job immediately. And I’m hoping that this will help to grow and build that space.”

The other four Chicago-area designers selected, and their areas of expertise, are Kendall Reynolds, footwear; Maya Bird-Murphy, architecture; Brandon Breaux, fine art and design; and Summer Coleman, graphic design.

Others chosen for the inaugural Design Lab are:

Tolu Coker, fashion design, London.

Germane Barnes, architecture, Miami.

Kyle Abraham, dance, New York.

Mariam Issoufou Kamara, architecture, Niamey, Niger.

Yemi Amu, agriculture, New York.

Kenturah Davis, visual art, Los Angeles.

Salome Asega, art, technology and design, New York.

Cheyanne M. Daniels is a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times via Report for America, a not-for-profit journalism program that aims to bolster the paper’s coverage of communities on the South and West sides.