Calle Lake Culture House

The Graves Foundation bought a vacant site at the critical TOD intersection of Chicago Avenue and Lake Street in 2019 with the goal of assisting New American entrepreneurs, cultural bearers, and artists to articulate their vision for a development project that reflects and strengthens their rich cultural entity.

The Calle Lake Culture House is conceived as a new cultural institution located on East Lake Street that will incubate impactful, artist-led, and community centered collaborative initiatives led by Latino/a/x, BIPOC, and immigrant artists, dedicated to advancing creative and experimental approaches to cultural and economic development of communities and neighborhoods.

As a development consultant on the project working on behalf of a local foundation, Element has worked to analyze the feasibility of multiple scenarios developed by the community advisory council, with high level sources and uses for each, as well assisting in the recruitment of a local BIPOC entrepreneur, coordinating a feasibility study, and applying for various funding sources. Element continues to support the Graves Foundation in facilitation of this community focused project by providing technical expertise and creating a work plan for advancing the concept.

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