Seeds of Our Culture, a community mural at E. 64th Street and S. Dorchester Avenue in Woodlawn on the South Side of Chicago, was painted in the Summer and Fall of 2017 by two locally renowned, commissioned artists, Arlene Turner-Crawford and Rahmaan "Statik" Barnes. The mural celebrates biodiversity as well as the culturally significant historical figures from the south side. The project was managed by Nika Levando from the Office of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago, in partnership with the South East Chicago Commission, the William G. Hill Center for the Arts, METRA, and countless community members and volunteers.
Public art on the University of Chicago campus is a fascinating, spontaneous experience, with some sculptures boldly claiming open spaces and others tucked unexpectedly between buildings. This one-hour tour covers a small sample of the stunning works that have helped shape UChicago's intellectual and cultural life for decades.
Under City Stone is one of the oldest public murals in the city of Chicago, and one of the most important testaments to the mural movement, which began in Chicago in the late 1960's. The restoration of the mural, after 43 years since its creation, was a project we began in May 2015 and concluded in August of that same year. Below is a more comprehensive publicized write-up of the project, by The University of Chicago, Office of Civic Engagement:
Newly Restored “Under City Stone” Mural Unveiled
After 43 years, original artist returned to Hyde Park viaduct to enliven historic public art
When Caryl Yasko first mixed her paints on the wall beneath the viaduct at East 55th Street and Lake Park Avenue in 1972, she was at the forefront of the public art movement that began on Chicago’s South Side in the 1960s. Yasko returned to Hyde Park this summer to restore her mural “Under City Stone” and preserve a piece of history. The result of that work was presented to community members at a dedication ceremony on Wednesday, August 19, 2015.
“The restoration of Under City Stone is the latest example of the University’s deepening engagement in the arts, both on campus and in local communities, as a catalyst for community engagement,” said William Towns, Associate Vice President for Neighborhood Initiatives for the University of Chicago, which funded Chicago Public Art Group to lead the project. Since 2008, the University has invested in the restoration of viaduct murals along Lake Park Avenue, as well as the mosaics in the underpass to 57th Street Beach.
Fifth Ward Ald. Leslie A. Hairston, who also spoke at the dedication, celebrated “Under City Stone” for depicting the “diversity and inclusion that are hallmarks of our community. This mural also embodies the spirit of collaboration that is in Hyde Park’s DNA.”
When Yasko created the original version, she did so spontaneously on the street, inviting passersby to stop to pose and provide instant critiques. During the restoration, she once again invited community residents to participate, by sharing their opinions or picking up a brush to add a few strokes of paint.
In her remarks, Yasko acknowledged the people who helped her complete the restoration, particularly her assistant, Harrison Halaska, whom she directed from her hospital bed after breaking her hip in the early days of the project. Her team also included artists from the School of the Art Institute, local students, and community members.
UNDER CITY STONE
Pre-restoration
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Images provided by Ákos Major (http://akosmajor.com). All rights reserved.
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Images provided by Ákos Major (http://akosmajor.com). All rights reserved.
In Salvage 3.1: Fashion, the Object Cultures Project continues its exploration of the art and practice of salvage by asking how and whether the ubiquity of the vintage, the retro, and the cyclically recurrent in fashion reanimates or revises regimes of value. We also consider how those reanimated styles impact the meanings attached to salvaged materials themselves and what they might teach us about the wider promise and peril of salvaging.
In partnership with the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory (3CT), UChicago Arts, the Adelyn Russell Bogert Fund of the Franke Institute for the Humanities, the Art History Department, the Office for Civic Engagement, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and MODA at Chicago.
Meaningful connections between urban researchers and artists, thinkers, and community activists are essential to the University’s effort to support research that responds to urban opportunities. Through Salvage, an ongoing series of symposiums sponsored by the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory, UChicago Department of Art History, and the College that explore the value of art and the use and reuse of materials, the Office of Civic Engagement hosted a conversation with Woodlawn neighborhood community members to discuss public art and open space on the mid-South Side. The Office also identified Woodlawn artmakers from the Revival Arts Collective (Anton Seals, William Hill, and Andres Hernandez) to speak about their practices atSalvage 3.0: Built Space. The symposium explored the act and art of salvaging public art and its positive impact on the community.
