Pockmarked, grime-dulled and home to countless huddling pigeons, the underside of the Loop's elevated tracks isn't typically a place to linger.
Well, not yet.
But on Aug. 15, a "canvas of light" in magenta, blue and green — among other hues — will illuminate a 50-foot-long stretch of the Green Line at the Washington/Wabash Station. The permanent art installation is part of a soon-to-be-unveiled project in seven locations across the city intended to draw attention, in part, to Chicago's haves and have-nots — and timed to coincide with the Democratic National Convention and its national spotlight.
The Green Line connects downtown and the convention locations to the West and South Sides — home to many of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. All of the art projects are strung out at locations along the Green Line.
“We wanted to time it during the convention because it's ... when everyone in Chicago really needs to rally around the city. It's also a time when people who are coming in for the convention are thinking about things like, ‘How do we think about infrastructure in large cities moving forward?’ Or they should be thinking about that.” said Abby Pucker, founder of Gertie, the Chicago-based civic and cultural agency that coordinated the project, titled, "Next Stop: Chicago."
Admission is free to all events and exhibitions.
The L track lights are programmable, and, according to the organizers, can be synced "to movements and sounds like your heartbeat, the tap of a drum, or to the rhythm of your favorite song. The result will be a canvas of light for any person, anywhere, to use as a vehicle for expression."
The overall project — funded with $400,000 in grant money from the Joyce Foundation and the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, among others — features the work of emerging and lesser-known Chicago-based artists in Garfield Park, Washington Park, Bronzeville and Englewood.
Cooking demonstrations, open mic events and a range of artistic performances are planned. One show is already on display — "The Heavenly Body," an exhibition at Blanc Gallery, 4445 S. King Dr., which features a "meditation on the cultural significance of roller skating and roller skating rinks within Black American life across the US Midwest."
Pucker said she hopes the project will highlight a story that sometimes gets lost in the blizzard of news about the city's gun violence.
"Yes, there's also trauma and there's also violence," she said. "And there are also really hard things that we need to confront, but part of the strategy to ... (lessen that) is investing in creative endeavors, is investing in community and place-making initiatives," Pucker said.
To find out more about the project, go to: nextstopchicago.co
