coming to Chicago to do art.

any great idea of stuff to see?

If you've never seen Chicago, the city itself is the thing to see. Christmas decorations on State Street, the lights on the skyscrapers at night, take the boat ride up the river...
Of course the art museum, as well as the Field Museums...

Go to the top of the Hancock Tower (see the Chicago history display in the old pumping station next door first), see the pumping station itself, and Water Tower...

and create two large mosaics depicting Chicago Then and Now...I'm being brought there to whirlwind tour and experience the city and will then create a response in salvaged stained glass. I wonder...if you asked all of your neighbors and friends living in Chicago what would they like to see in Chicago Now, what would it be? where do people hang out and feel "at home"?

Chicago is one of the most studied cities in the world, you might find some ideas in the over 100 years of sociological study in the city. Google the "chicago school of sociology".

Mosaic for sure, full of contradictions, twists and turns. It's historically a union town so there is a lot of history with old union halls, now turned into store fronts. They represent the contrast between old and new chicago to me. That and all the cookie cutter condos being crammed in between old two to four flat buildings.

There is the wonderful touristy stuff mentioned above of course, just depends on the nature of your piece.

You can pick your poison with the endless array of neighborhood bars as well. This city runs on alcohol. But don't forget the signs that say "Respect our neighbors, please leave quietly" because we aren't all drunks.

In my neighborhood (near it anyway), the lunchtime line outside of Hot Doug's is a staple. You should come in the summer with the endless array of street fairs all over the city. Lakeshore Drive during the day with the city on one side and the blue water of the lake michigan on the other. I'd also get a glimpse of the independent music scene in Chicago. A lot of shows happening nightly. Small local art galleries in Bucktown and Wickerpark (and other places as well). The Murals on the southside.

Chicago is a city of contradictions like any other. It has its wonders and disappointments.

For a quick contrast between Then and Now, I recommend walking or driving around some of the better-known neighborhoods like the Gold Coast, Bronzeville and Hyde Park. There are also tours available that you can find online.

Some Chicago streets stretch for miles and offer a fascinating cross-section of Chicago life, the neighborhoods constantly changing in ethnic makeup and economic status all along their lengths. My favorite Chicago streets for this kind of viewing: Halsted, Milwaukee, Lincoln, Belmont, Lawrence, Devon and Clark.

I went on a boat tour that showed the architectural beauty of the city. They may do that one only in the summer, but it was worth it.

couple of things i would see, considering your mission, are a few of the newer mosaic murals-
the cta museum campus station- orange line, roosevelt rd, is a huge, beuutiful fairly new station. very interesting incorporation of the theme.
also go to millennium park. just for millennium park, but also see the murals in the underpasses to the parking garages.
a fun brand new community-based project is the mural on the bryn maur avenue underpass from lake shore drive. a real sparkling beauty.

pm me if you want to talk. i warn you though, i am so jealous! do you have a website? do you need an assistant?

you can google me Daviea Davis if you want to see the old and new mosaics of Pittsburgh, which hang in the Pittsburgh International Airport. I am reading "Devil in the White City" and everything I can get my hands on about Chicago. The guy who is commissioning the mosaics is taking me around chicago to show me the city thru his eyes. I am also being hosted by a former mosaic student who now lives in chicago. please keep up the input and let me know anything you think would add to these mosaics.

don't have it handy, as i am at the studio, but i will try to post the info when i get home. you really have to track down the old wpa era murals. many of them are i schools, so that makes it a little hard. but we do have lots of them.
are you working with cpag by any chance? where will this mural be?
i would be happy to buy you a beer when you are in town, which, incidently, is a big part of our history.
devil in the white city is an amazing book. i devoured it.

the business is called Mission Measurement, it's downtown.

don't have it handy, as i am at the studio, but i will try to post the info when i get home. you really have to track down the old wpa era murals. many of them are i schools, so that makes it a little hard. but we do have lots of them.
are you working with cpag by any chance? where will this mural be?
i would be happy to buy you a beer when you are in town, which, incidently, is a big part of our history.
devil in the white city is an amazing book. i devoured it.

take a drive down to pullman. a fascinating bit of history. pretty much unchanged, because is was too far out to be "redeveloped" it is now being restored, and it's history preserved. a real look at what made chicago what it is.

invaluable stuff you've got there in you head. Thant's how Pittsburgh was for me. 3rd generation, soot in my blood. I'll be working on these for a month following my visit and will be glad for anything you have to say. I'd meet you and it'd be groovy!

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/305996.html

so, when are you coming?

googled you and found this- i resemble that remark, for sure.

What led you to make mosaics, then?

I had two children in a row and lost my mind, because everything with babies is undone repeatedly. You feed them and they get hungry again. Clean the house and it gets dirty again. Forever. Mosaics were something I could do that was not un-doable. It was permanent. I could say, "That's what I did today."

soooooo been there, done that. sooo.
looking forward to meeting you.
funny, too, that i will be in pittsburg in the spring. going to nceca. (big clay thing.)