This project focuses on creating civic discourse on the future of Charleston and the region. Artists Suzanne Lacy and Rick Lowe are working with regional grass roots and institutional leaders and teachers to contribute to the progressive discourse and daily life of residents in the region. They are grappling with a complex of interrelated issues: property ownership (seen through the lens of land and housing), family (seen in representations of heritage that fuel the region’s economy), and education (especially public education of youth).

Two empty houses at Calhoun and East Bay in Charleston, S.C., owned by the sisters Katherine Braxton and Rebecca Campbell, are the site for this public art project. Under the auspices of the Spoleto USA Evoking History Program, a multi-layered coalition has evolved over the course of several years. This coalition is working with artists Rick Lowe and Suzanne Lacy to convene a regional discourse centered on the intersection of hidden histories, current inequities, and civic presence of African American and other under-represented residents of Charleston and the Low Country region.

Lacy and Lowe seek authentic intervention in a way that is not symbolic but actual, targeting the hidden discourse between races and the ways that inequities remain unspoken in the public realm. The project consists of nurturing the development of The Borough Project as it determines its future; a youth fellowship program as part of Spoleto USA; work with Clemson Architecture School; and performances/installations that serve as models of representative civic discourse.