Culture in Action: A Public Art Program of Sculpture Chicago
Multiple site and venues in Chicago
May – September 1993
The Chicago Urban Ecology Action Group (1992-93)
Mark Dion and the Chicago Urban Ecology Action Group (CUEAG): Naomi Beckwith, Sharmaine Hendrix, Nynier Hodge, Tresnita Ivy, Catherine Mach, Dionne Emiko Mason, Charmaine Morgan, Muneerah Muhammad, Claudia Travis, Karlyn Westover, Jerry Winners, Kazumi Yoshinaga and others. Also Lisa Langken, art teacher, and Paul Adams, Principal, Providence St Mel High School; and Cheryl McWorter, Director, Lincoln Park High School Dance Program.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘A year-long collaboration between the artist and fourteen inner-city high school students which focused on tropical ecosystems and urban environments has resulted in an experimental ecological field station that bridges the realms of art and nature.’
General point(s) of access
CUEAG headquarters, a field station established in a clubhouse formerly used by anglers in Lincoln Park, with environmental projects taking place in Chicago more widely. The premises were open to the public with members of the CUEAG present, 1 July to 27 August 1993, Wednesday to Sunday 11am to 5pm
Eminent Domain (1992-93)
Kate Ericson, Mel Ziegler and a resident group of Ogden Courts, Chicago
Housing Authority apartments, led by Arrie Martin and Elois Smith, together with Brenda Bolden, Iretha Ford and Loretta Lacy.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘Tenants and artists created an artwork in the form of a paint chart whose design, text, colours and their names are based on an American heritage of public housing.’
General point(s) of access
Paint charts distributed to those attending the ‘Culture in Action’ bus tour, which passed by Ogden Courts
We Got it! The Workforce Makes the Candy of Their Dreams (1992-93)
Simon Grennan, Christopher Sperandio and Local 552 of the Bakery, Confectionery and Tobacco Workers’ International Union of America, involving the particular participation of Dorothy Barksdale, Richard Bowens, Leroy Brown, Barbara Fleming, Artemio Gil, Martina Herrara, Louis Mason, Minnie Mitchell, Willie Rias, Mary Ross, Thelma Smith and Regina Williamson – a dozen of the 800 production-line workers at the Nestl. factory in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park – and more generally represented by Jethro Head, Union President.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘Twelve members of BC&T Local 552 and the artists have designed their own candy bar and its promotional campaign, which incorporate issues of individual to corporation, job to home, and the impact and meaning of products consumers confront daily.’
General point(s) of access
We Got It! chocolate bar produced in an edition of 30,000 and distributed to selected shops within Chicago. Eleven billboards promoting the bar were placed in Chicago, mostly on the South Side.
Flood: A Volunteer Network for Active Participation in Healthcare (1992–95)
Haha (Richard House, Wendy Jacob, Laurie Palmer and John Ploof ) and Flood: A Volunteer Network for Active Participation in Healthcare, including Tony Alioto, Terry Amidei, Kristin Appelhof, Jennifer Bartlett, Jeff Black, Valerie Brodar, Kerryn Brunsting, Chris Campbell, Suzanne Flemens, Paul Garklavs, Bob Gonzales, Chris Hanson, Bob Hewitt, Jennifer Jankauskas, Zach Jennings, Diane Kelley, George Levin, Liang Lu, Carla Mayer, Kevin Nevills, Caroline O’Boyle, Jodi Osterreicher, Kelly Pierce, Amy Reichart, Bob Schultz, Rachel Selekman, Hendrika Sonnenberg, Derek Stroup, Beth Turk, Miwako Watanuki, Kurt Weston and neighbours and friends of the garden, located in the Rogers Park area, on Chicago’s North Side.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘Artists and volunteers are cultivating a hydroponic garden to produce vegetables and therapeutic herbs for use by HIV/AIDS service organisations. The garden serves as a centre for community dialogue as well as a metaphor
for caregiving.’
General point(s) of access
An indoor hydroponics vegetable garden in an empty Rogers Park storefront at 1769 West Greenleaf Avenue, open to the public from 21 May to 29 August 1993: Monday, Tuesday and Friday, 4pm to 7pm; Saturday, 1pm to 4pm; and Sunday, 1pm to 5pm. Weekly meetings took place on Tuesday evenings, and public lectures and events took place throughout the summer.
Full Circle (1992-93) and Dinner at Jane’s (1993)
Suzanne Lacy and a coalition of Chicago women: a steering committee and advisors, including Diane Chandler, Amina J. Dikerson, Joyce Fernandes, Nancy Flay, Stephanie Fogg, Sandra Furey, Michelle Gazzola, Camille Gerstel, Juana Guzman, Ronne Hartfield, Sharon Irish, Mary Ann Johnson, Barbara Kensey, Kanta Khipple, Grace Lai, Susan Larson, Juju Lien, Virginia Martinez, Esther Parada, Marianne Philbin, Kavita Ramdas, Eunita Rushing, Jane Saks, Ann E. Smith, JoAnne Stone-Geier, Janet Treuhaft, Thelma Tucker, Manny Tueter and Cheryl Yuen; a staff team of Mary McGall (Full Circle coordinator) and Tali Simon (administrative assistant); and a student team of Ericha Ahlschier, Shalona Byrd, Tracy Hudak and Mary Zerkel.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘Conceived in the spirit of Jane Addams, this […] collaborative work looks at women’s accomplishments in the past, their continuing commitment to community in the present and their ability to envision the future.’
General point(s) of access
A hundred limestone monuments, each honouring a woman from the Chicago region, installed on pavements within the Loop from May to September 1993. On 30 September 1993, a dinner for fourteen global women leaders was held at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum, which was filmed and later edited into a 53-minute video titled, Dinner at Jane’s, co-produced with Michelle Baughan.
Tele-Vecindario: A Street-Level Video Project (1992–95 and evolving into Street-Level Youth Media, ongoing)
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle and Street-Level Video (S-LV), the youth division of the Westtown Vecinos Video Channel (WVVC); including Miguel Boyas, Larissa Burgos, Jasmin Cardona, Veronica Cardona, Heriberto Carrion, Mike Cruz, Elbert De Luna, Jose Delcid, Wilfredo Gines, Natalie Miranda, Maria Ocasio, Anthony Oliver, Miguel Oliver, Edith Pauley, Ronnie Pauley, Alfonso Soto, Olga Soto, James Tavenner, Ken Turner, Luis Vega, Miriam Vega and others; and its staff members, Nilda Ruiz Pauley (field director), Maria Suarez (production coordinator), Paul Teruel (production director) and Troy Winston (field assistant).
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘The artist and young adults are creating a series of video installations and video portraits in their neighbourhood. This video mapping aims to convey residents’ sense of the street and to create a dialogue about social and cultural issues of place and community.’
General point(s) of access
This Is My Stuff: A Street-Level Video Installation on view at Emerson House Community Center, 645 North Wood Street, from 12 May to 28 August 1993. Cul-de-Sac: A Street-Level Video Installation by S-LV with Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle and Paul Teruel, at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago, from 3 July to 8 August 1993. During June 1993, S-LV’s videos were broadcast twice weekly on Chicago’s Community TV Network (CTVN), and videos were shown at various venues throughout the spring and summer of 1993. Tele-Vecindario: A Street-Level Video Block Party took place on Chicago’s West Erie Street, between Paulina Street and Wood Street, on 28 August 1993.
Consequences of a Gesture (1992–93) and 100 Victories / 10,000 Tears (1993)
Daniel J. Martinez, VinZula Kara and the West Side Three-Point Marchers/ Los Desfiladores Tres Puntos del West Side for the Consequences of a Gesture parade, which, as listed by the programme, involved the participation of African American Arts Alliance, Aguijon II Theater, Alpha Phi Alpha, Austin High School, Cardenas School, Cash Money, Cooper School, de la Cruz School, Erie Neighborhood House, Farragut School, Henry Booth House, Henry Horner Boys & Girls Club, Jungman School, Make-up Boys, Marshall High School Band, New Sounds, Phi Beta Sigma, IOTA Chapter, Pros Arts Studio, Redmoon Theater, Salazar Elementary School, Shango Temple, the Spray Brigade graffiti group, Suder School, Taller Mexicano de Grabado (Mexican Printmakers Workshop), Temporary Juvenile Detention Center representatives, WGCI Dance Troupe and Whitney M. Young School; and project coordinators Angela Coleman and Elvia Rodriguez.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘A procession/carnival/ritual/parade and an installation exploring social movement and displacement within cities, specifically how urban neighbourhoods change as one ethnic group replaces another.’
General point(s) of access
The parade Consequences of a Gesture, at three consecutive locations on 19 June 1993, from 9.30 am to 1.30 pm. The outdoor installation 100 Victories/10,000 Tears, set up in a fenced-in area at West 14th Place and South Peoria Street, near the Maxwell Street Market’s site, July to November 1993.
Naming Others: Manufacturing Yourself (1992–93)
Robert Peters with Mushroom Pickers, Ghosts, Frogs and other Others. Participants included individuals at the Urban Life Center (now Chicago Center for Urban Life and Culture) and the Resource Center, a non-profit recycling and reuse organisation, and other respondents to Peters’s public solicitation.
As described in the ‘Culture in Action’ programme guide
‘As a way to understand how all Chicagoans and Others form and respond to social classifications, the artist and collaborating organisations and individuals engage in a process of “name-calling” – everyday acts of naming – from the playful and careful to the abusive.’
General point(s) of access
An interactive telephone line, 1-800-808-THEM, made publically available between 12 July and 30 September 1993, based on an earlier written questionnaire and public solicitation. Cards placed on Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus routes between July and August 1993 advertising this number. ‘Meeting Grounds’, a two-day symposium, took place at the Chicago Cultural Center on 12 and 13 November 1993.