The massive and legendary vinyl collection of Chicago house godfather Frankie Knuckles will be housed in a new arts center, put on display for the public to appreciate and, (we hope) peruse. Art News reports that Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates is responsible for the new record library, and will bring Knuckles's collection to his new facility at the Stony Island Arts Bank.
The bank is just that--a literal bank that was bought in a crumbling state by Gates for $1 in late 2012. Gates has spent the last few years working to repair and revitalize the bank, priming it to become a massive public arts forum that will open, records included, on October 3rd. “When he acquired the building, it was much more about preserving this emblem of the middle-class black community in these neighborhoods—this symbol of the middle class and the Great Migration of the African American community that grew in these neighborhoods,” Ken Stewart of Gates’s nonprofit Rebuild, told Arts News . “It was over a few years from the time that he acquired the building to now that a final concept came into view.”
Knuckles sadly passed away in March of 2014, leaving behind a legacy of electronic music innovation that is arguably unparalleled by any DJ who continues to work and record music today. Amongst his vinyl collection are the LPs, 45s and 12" singles that helped make house happen--it's comforting to know they'll be getting their proper place in the annals of arts history.
