Committee of Six is an enactment of archival meeting minutes held at the University of Chicago. The meetings took place in 1955 between community leaders and University officials for the purpose of creating an “Urban Renewal Program" for the neighborhood of Hyde Park, situated in the south side of Chicago. The film documents the process of a group of performers, academics, residents, and activists interpreting the archival documents. The film invites comparison between the language of the past and the contemporary reality of gentrification and racist real estate practices in Chicago.

Fred Schmidt-Arenales is an artist, filmmaker, and organizer. His projects frequently confront specific mechanisms of white supremacy. He has presented performances and experimental video and audio works internationally at venues including Künstlerhaus Halle für Kunst und Medien, Graz; Links Hall and Ballroom Projects, Chicago; The Darling Foundry, Montreal; Pieter Performance Space and NAVEL, Los Angeles; LightBox and The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Philadelphia; The Brick Theatre, Abrons Arts Center, and Dixon Place, New York; and Kunsthalle, Vienna. He has also organized workshops, conferences, and classes on collaborative strategies and group dynamics at various arts organizations and schools including the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Co-Prosperity Sphere, Chicago; and Abrons Arts Center, New York. Schmidt-Arenales holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and his master’s in fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania.

Fred Schmidt-Arenales is an artist, filmmaker, and organizer. His works attempt to bring awareness to unconscious processes on the individual and group level. He has presented performances and experimental video and audio works internationally, at venues including Künstlerhaus Halle für Kunst und Medien, Graz; Links Hall, Chicago; The Darling Foundry, Montreal; LightBox and The Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; Sculpture Center and Abrons Arts Center, New York; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Kunsthalle, Vienna. Schmidt-Arenales is a 2022–23 Core fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.