Promise - CTA Station
Promise (for tomorrow from the past looking to the future), 2024, vitreous glass mosaic, 2024
The site of my mural for a new train station in Chicago’s Near Westside neighborhood opened just two weeks before the historic Democratic National Convention in October 2024, that took place a few blocks away at the United Center. At the official opening Mayor Brandon Johnson called this beautiful world-class design by the architecture firm Perkins & Will, “transformative” and “visually stunning. We take another step in our city’s journey to reverse the historic disinvestment of this community,” Johnson added. “Accessible, reliable, affordable public transit is how we connect people on the Near West Side to opportunities beyond their neighborhoods.” My work is concerned with equity, the uplift of marginalized communities, and systems of repair that work towards ensuring all communities have opportunities to thrive. The last time this area had an “L” stop was in 1948.
The mural includes almost one million 1/4” ceramic tiles. Along with archival photographs I used from the Chicago History Museum and the symbolic image of the prairie, the composition references the pioneering work of Florence Kelly, who went door-to-door during a hot summer in 1892 to collect demographic data on social and working conditions in the area that led to establishing sociology as a discipline, introduced infographics, and instigated stricter working conditions in sweatshops and policies around child labor. Although it is hard to say how others may interpret the mural, in my mind it is asking: What is over the horizon of the Midwestern prairie? And, what new Near West Side might this group of young people be walking towards? What future Chicago might the Greenline take them to?
Architect: Perkins&Will
Photographer: James Steinkamp
Press Link ︎︎︎
The site of my mural for a new train station in Chicago’s Near Westside neighborhood opened just two weeks before the historic Democratic National Convention in October 2024, that took place a few blocks away at the United Center. At the official opening Mayor Brandon Johnson called this beautiful world-class design by the architecture firm Perkins & Will, “transformative” and “visually stunning. We take another step in our city’s journey to reverse the historic disinvestment of this community,” Johnson added. “Accessible, reliable, affordable public transit is how we connect people on the Near West Side to opportunities beyond their neighborhoods.” My work is concerned with equity, the uplift of marginalized communities, and systems of repair that work towards ensuring all communities have opportunities to thrive. The last time this area had an “L” stop was in 1948.
The mural includes almost one million 1/4” ceramic tiles. Along with archival photographs I used from the Chicago History Museum and the symbolic image of the prairie, the composition references the pioneering work of Florence Kelly, who went door-to-door during a hot summer in 1892 to collect demographic data on social and working conditions in the area that led to establishing sociology as a discipline, introduced infographics, and instigated stricter working conditions in sweatshops and policies around child labor. Although it is hard to say how others may interpret the mural, in my mind it is asking: What is over the horizon of the Midwestern prairie? And, what new Near West Side might this group of young people be walking towards? What future Chicago might the Greenline take them to?
Architect: Perkins&Will
Photographer: James Steinkamp
Press Link ︎︎︎
