I love murals, and love to take photos of them wherever I am, be it Nashville, Rome, my hometown,…read moreor here in Chicago. I had a dental appointment and found they had made this lovely improvement to their building--a huge mural celebrating Buena Park! Not sure this area gets much love anymore, so it was really nice to see this new piece of public art. It's only a 3-4 blocks from the Sheridan stop on the red line, and it's huge, taking up the entire exterior east-west wall of the building. Next time you're hustling to and fro, take a moment to enjoy the work of one of our artists, especially when its so easily accessible.

This abstract sculpture is temporarily located in the wonderful White River State Park, as part of…read moreits outdoor art exhibit. There is a commercial parking lot available as well as a commercial garage to park your vehicle. It is the work of Chicago artist Terrence Karpowicz. It is not an original piece. There is an identical one currently located in front of a Chicago real estate company as part of Art on Clark. It is part of his Athlete Series of sculptures, which use the same stick like figure in deferent sports themes scenes. The original piece was made in 2010 and the one in the park was made in 2017. They both are made of steel and measure 168" x 120" x 96" . The piece was inspired by the thought of giving everything you have to achieve a goal. It looks like a runner with their chest out crossing the finish line, known as a dip. It is a simple piece, but I like it. It somehow gets me in a motivated state of mind. This is a very attractive piece that you must look at while you are in the park. It is located on the median of the White River Pedestrian Bridge leading to the Indianapolis Zoo, along with many other sculptures. Well, as with most public art I have visited and reviewed, this is probably not a very long stop. I was there less than 3 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other wonderful art in the area to maximize your time and trip. Luckily, there are a lot of other interesting pieces of art in the park to load your itinerary with in addition to all that White River Park has to offer.

Have you ever walked by this and wondered…read more.. "What is THIS?" =Monument with Standing Beast. It is French Artist and Sculptor Jean Dubuffet's public artwork that he "hoped would 'resonate' with the average person." Hmmmm...it is intriguing... The City of Chicago describes the piece as "Monument with Standing Beast is comprised of four elements that suggest a standing animal, a tree, a portal and an architectural form. The configuration invites viewers to enter the sculpture and echoes the dramatically open plan of the James R. Thompson Center." 4 elements: 1. standing animal 2. a tree 3. a portal 4. architectural form (this part is a "no brainer.") See: https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_s_publicartjeandubuffetsmonumentwithstandingbeast.html

This is a single-tiered fountain with a pool. It is located in the Polonia Triangle, in the…read moreChicago's Polish section. The fountain was constructed in 1998 as part of the city's public fountain program, but it looks much older. It has definitely seen better days, but I am glad that at least it is operational. It provides a soothing flow. The fountain is named after novelist, Nelson Algren, who lived in the area and is best known for his novel The Man with the Golden Arm, which won the first National Book Award in 1950. You will find a plaque on the ground around the fountain with a quote from one of Algren's essays, Chicago: City on the Make. It reads, "For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart." The fountain is made of black iron and has a pool that is about 9 feet in diameter.This is definitely not a destination piece and most viewers will be transiting the Triangle.

"For the masses who do the city's labor also keep the city's heart" reads the inscription around…read morethe Nelson Algren fountain located on the Polish Triangle, near the Division street Blue Line Stop. This is a quote from Chicago: City on the Make, which sums up this city better than anything I have ever read. This review is not for the uninteresting design of the fountain that is a favorite amongst pigeons and the homeless. It is for the idea. One of the turning points of Algren's masterpiece, The Man with the Golden Arm is when Frankie Machine drunkenly crashes his automobile into the triangle, where fountain is located, paralyzing his wife. Division street, especially the portion between Ashland and Damen was the focal point of this novel, and mentioned in some of his other works. It is also located only a few blocks away from his long time residence on Evergreen street.

This review is for Sculptor Louise Nevelson's "Dawn Shadows Sculpture" in the Chicago Loop…read more.... I was on the Brown Line L Train platform and peered down from the right side of Wells Street looking South....and saw the amazing artwork at 200 W. Madison Street...which in itself is a striking modernistic building made of glass allowing the passengers from the L platform to see the art inside the building which I understand is an apartment building with office suites. This is where I learned about the famous Sculptor Louise Nevelson....born in Ukraine in 1899 she passed away in New York City in 1988. Her contributions and artwork includes: "monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures." According to Wikipedia. Her works can be viewed at the Museums of Modern Art in both New York City and San Francisco among other museums. She was influenced by Alexander Calder and Pablo Picasso among others. The Harris Theater also features a sculpture of a Stage Curtain for the Opera Orfeo and Euridice from 1984! Ms. Nevelson designed the sets and costumes for Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orfeo and Euridice Opera. See:http://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/08/arts/opera-gluck-s-orfeo-in-st-louis.html?mcubz=0 Her Featured "Dawn Shadows Sculpture" was influenced by the Loop Brown Line and the best vantage point is from the Brown Line Platform at the Washington/Wells Stop. The City of Chicago states, "[I]n "Dawn Shadows," Ms. Nevelson is best known for her large wooden relief sculptures composed of stacked box-enclosures and original and found objects Like most of her work, this steel sculpture is monochromatic and responds to the complexities of urban structures." Now I want to return and explore "the found objects" that are used in the sculpture....and learn more as well as visit the Harris Theater to see her sculpture there! See:https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dca/supp_info/chicago_s_publicartlouisenevelsonsdawnshadows.html

I love this mural in Bucktown. Just half a block west of Ashland, you'll find Vivian Maier involved…read morein the pastime that brought her such great posthumous fame and acclaim. Maier took over 100,000 photos in her lifetime. Most of these were in Chicago, though she did take some in other cities. She was a mystery in life; most of her life she spent as a nanny in Chicago, though at one time she was a house cleaner for Phil Donahue. It may have been serendipity that her failure to pay rent on a storage unit led to its being auctioned off. A few folks in Chicago purchased her thousands of negatives, and they went viral after on of the new owners posted them online. Maier is one of the most important amateur photographers in American history--probably the most important, history. I like this little mural, depicting Maier engaging in her life's work. We're lucky she quietly documented Chicago's history from the 50's through 80's. There are documentaries to learn more about her, and your can find her work exhibited on occasion in various places.

This sculpture is featured in the Spirit of Music Gardens located in Grant Park. It pays homage to…read moreGerman-born Theodore Thomas, who was the first conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The piece is a collaborative effort between Albin Polasek and Howard Van Doren Shaw and was constructed in 1923. The piece has been somewhat as a traveling piece, being relocated twice (1941, 1958) before being placed in its current location in 1991. The bronze statue stands 14 feet tall and depicts a bronze muse holding a lyre. The statue is perched on a 4 foot platform and is centered in front of a forty-foot exedra. It is in fair shape, but considering that it is 100 years old, that is not to bad. There is metered street parking, commercial garages and commercial lots within a reasonable walking distance from the statue and park. As with most sculptures that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a destination piece, nor a long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes and I was only there because I was visiting Grant Park. So, you may want to consider planning out additional stops at other attractions in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

Civil rights is an important thing, and there's a monument in Bronzeville. Ida B. Wells was a civil…read morerights activist and investigative journalist who lived here. She was an important figure in seeking justice for African-Americans who were being lynched. Has some quotes from her on it. The memorial was created by Richard Hunt, and takes its name from one of her quotes. An important area for African-Americans in Chicago is Bronzeville. It's the location of the memorial, and Wells only lived a few blocks away from here. The memorial has a quote from her: "The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them." Also there's a few other quotes from her. It was unveiled in 2021 after a long time of trying to bring recognition to the area about its African-American history and seeking justice for them. An impressive structure made of bronze and granite. This is on the site of a former housing project. Great piece of art that shows African-American history. It's located at the intersection of Langley Avenue and 37th Place. This is one of the few monuments in Chicago to honor black women.

I love public art…read more The Ida B. Wells Monument, "The Light of Truth", is designed and sculpted by Richard Hunt, a Chicago treasure. I only recently learned of Hunt when I visited the Vivian G. Harsh archive collection, where one of his works has been displayed for, I think, over 40 years. But as I learned a bit more about this artist, I realized I'd seen other works of his--or at least, works that seem inspired by him or very similar to his oeuvre--because I have found them striking and they stick out in my memory as examples of when I started to appreciate sculpture more. Of course the location is significant. Wells lived in the area, and the location of this monument is the site of the Ida B. Wells Homes, a housing project that once existed here. I actually didn't realize how recently the Wells Homes were demolished; they were finally removed in 2011, at a time when I would have been working at a college fewer than 1.5 miles away (but then again, that school never has really seemed to care about the neighborhood beyond its own borders). The monument is abstract, with three very tall, wide pillars that support a structure on the top. Is it a crown? A flame? That's for you to decide. It's also quite substantial--it rises over 30 feet above the street, and is spread over area of probably at least 15 to 20 feet on the ground. I read an article that said some of the committee (including a couple of Wells' descendants) had advocated for something interpretive as opposed to something more traditional, like a bust, because it would be a better reflection of Wells herself. For those who might disagree and would have preferred a bust, the likeness of Wells is included in the base pillars of the sculpture--in fact, I believe there are two; one of Wells as a younger woman, and another later in life. I really appreciate that they didn't solely focus on her time as a young woman. Her work didn't end when she had children, and she deserves to be honored for her continued advocacy as an older woman just as much. For my part, because I'm not terribly sophisticated when it comes to works of art, I take the name of the sculpture and the bronze color of it to depict a steady flame. Wells was a journalist, and a fighter. She protested the treatment and portrayal of African Americans at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893; she shone a light on lynching to the extent she was driven from Memphis; she fought against segregation in Chicago schools; she challenged white suffragettes who ignored lynching and cared little for the enfranchisement of Black women. (As a side note, I recently reviewed the Know Your History, Then Make History mural I visited in Lexington, Kentucky; one of the women painted in that mural also came to the Columbian Exposition to protest how African Americans were being treated. I can't help but wonder if these two women met, and if so, whether they ever worked together or even simply kept up a correspondence.) I will return to this monument when we start to warm up and spring is making her way into the midwest. Not only will it simply be more pleasant, since I'm not a cold weather type of girl, I'm also excited to see how the sculpture fits into its environment in full bloom: How the sun shines and bends in its curves; how the trees nearby dapple the surface of the structure; how the light glimmers on the flames reaching toward the sky. Does sunset imbue this sculpture with a glow unlike the rest of the day? If I had one critique, it would be that there is not a bench or anything underneath the monument, or directly around it. It would make the monument more accessible, because I know I look forward to standing beneath and gaze up whilst I ponder and analyze the sculpture, and someone who has mobility issues may not be able to spend the time appreciating it in that manner. Ellis Park nearby has a lot of benches, but I don't know where in the 12-acre park they are, nor whether they would be obstructed by the trees in spring and summer. Hopefully I just missed seeing a bench near here, or it's something they'll consider adding, to make the site more accessible and allow it to reach a wider audience. Review #627 8/2022