CITY GOING PUBLIC WITH ITS ART& SOUL
Plan seeks to add more ‘ inclusive and inspiring’ works in public spaces
For Kamelia Hristeva, founder and CEO of Green Star Movement, art is about more than paint on walls or the tedium that can come from piecing a mosaic together.
“It creates a sense of place making, a place that’s inclusive and inspiring,” said Hristeva, whose nonprofit, art- focused group is responsible for murals, sculptures and mosaics on elementary schools and underpasses throughout the city.
“When you beautify a place people care more, it connects to people and helps them connect to different communities and learn about them.”
Through the city’s 50×50 neighborhood art project, Green Star Movement has been involved in creating murals at 63rd Street and at Belmont and Kenmore avenues as well as other artworks.
And now more artists will get the opportunity to showcase their art in the city through Chicago’s first public art plan, which aims to showcase and generate more artwork in public spaces.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday announced the plan — a collaboration between the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Department of Transportation, the Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Libraries and the Chicago Transit Authority, among others.
“It’s the 50- year anniversary of the Wall of Respect and the Picasso sculpture. Those are reflection points for us in charting the history of Chicago and writing a new history,” the mayor said.
“We want to bring the city’s artists together to re- envision our spaces because they are places where we can bring people of different backgrounds together and create a common foundation.”
After the mayor and the Department of Cultural Affairs designated 2017 the “Year of Public Art” it created “momentum,” said Cultural Affairs Chief Mark Kelly.
The seeds of that enthusiasm were planted with the Chicago Cultural Plan 2012 that suggested that expanding art in public places could be a core strategy in elevating and expanding neighborhood cultural assets.
Last year, the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Chicago Park District, the transit authority and other groups invested $ 4 million toward such projects through the “Year of Public Art.” Artists, and their work, in the 50×50 arts project gained visibility, and a public art youth corps and an art festival were created.
There are plans for at least 10 new artworks at CTA stations around the city in the next few years, Dorval Carter Jr., president of the transit authority, said.
Kelly said his department, and those involved in the plan, are committed to the parks and architecture because they are “the connective tissue” of the city. Hristeva would agree. “People seem to forget about how important public art is in the city,” she said.
“Hopefully with more art, people will realize it’s important to communities. It provides a space for people, and it enhances neighborhoods and our next generation to create something that leads to history.”