If These Walls Could Talk

If These Walls Could Talk

Chris Webb

2015 Finalist
Transformative Arts & Culture category


February 16, 2018

In 2015, Chris Webb, became one of the five Accelerate finalists for his idea,”If These Walls Could Talk” – a film that animates abandoned buildings to tell 100 years of history from their neighborhood. The production is complete and he has been showing it locally in high schools and libraries across the county.

Check out the film’s promo >


February, 2015

“If These Walls Could Talk” was Chris Webb’s idea for an urban arts project that engages youth to research and creatively present the history of abandoned properties, as a way of honoring Cleveland’s history, strengthening community identity, and igniting a conversation about the future of the community. Chris pitched the idea at Accelerate 2015, and was a runner-up.

The Accelerate prize money enabled Chris to begin production with artists to make three abandoned homes come to life as animated narrators in a film about the potential of challenged communities to thrive. The film premiered at Karamu House in Summer 2017. He also had presented the project at the Cleveland Institute of Art’s F1RST Conference in spring 2015, and at TedxClevelandStateUniversity. He was awarded a grant as a 2016 Creative Workforce Fellow through the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, and is preparing to premiere the movie in Summer 2017.

Watch the movie trailer.