Sculptures
Today is the 30th anniversary of the Chicago Picasso sculpture’s installation. No one has ever known what it is. All I know is that I’ve always had an overwhelming desire to slide down it. Listen to Studs Terkel interviewing Chicagoans in 1967 when it was unveiled. It makes me feel all proud of my city, in an odd way, to notice how often someone says: “I like it because Mayor Daley (Richard J.) says it’s good.” Benevolent dictatorship at its best.
But it’s also a sad time for public art in Chicago. The Berwyn car kabob is about to be replaced by a Walgreens. This kabob has always caught the nature of the Berwyn experience for me. Quirky, tacky, but still kind of cool. Where else do you find public art in the middle of a has-been auto-mall with crappy stores? I’ll miss the kabob.
I so love your banner! It’s awesome!
In the town where I went to seminary, there was a strip mall that had “car art,” too. It was cars with tar over them, so it was just the memory of the car. It’s not there any more. I think a car kabob would be even more awesome.
15 August 2007 at 6:27 pm
My husband’s cousin came to Illinois just to see the car kabob! I’ve never seen it myself, but I think the city shouldn’t underestimate it’s draw!
16 August 2007 at 12:10 pm