Chicago’s wealth divide teaches Seattle’s art scene how to bridge the gap

The Director of Seattle's Office of Art and Culture uses what he learned growing up in economically-divided Chicago to help bridge wealth gaps in Seattle.
The Director of Seattle's Office of Art and Culture uses what he learned growing up in economically-divided Chicago to help bridge wealth gaps in Seattle.

Editor's Note: This is the second in a multi-part series about the teenage years of Seattle-area creatives. Read part one, Samantha Updegrave's story about Washington's Poet Laureate Elizabeth Austen, here.

Dantrell Davis was only seven years old when he was shot and killed by a stray bullet from a rooftop sniper on his way to school in a Chicago housing project. Seventeen-year-old Randy Engstrom was living in Chicago and read about the murder in the newspaper.  Engstrom was one of those kids that split his time — mom during the week, dad on the weekends. For him, this meant experience with opposite worlds, one in the affluent Chicago suburbs, the other with a sightline into the history of poverty.

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