On Monday March 28th, sunset’s officially at 7:12 p.m. As darkness falls, you can view an amazing public art installation at 1230 N. Burling, that’s the corner of Burling and Division, right east of Halsted and Division. Jan Tichy’s Project Cabrini Green, a public art installation will light up for the first time, and flash its messages of farewell and more to the world.
Jan Tichy is an internationally-known artist, originally from Prague, who lives in Chicago now. He worked with teens from Cabrini-Green, and local arts groups Marwen, After School Matters, The Queen’s Brigade Marching Band, Cabrini Connections, and the School of the Art Institute, Contemporary Museum, and Richard Gray Gallery to create the project that will map the sound of poetry about the bitter-sweet end of Cabrini to the flashing of LED lights that have been installed in the now empty building.Add your reflections on this moment that signals the end of an era and the passing of a neighborhood into history to your photos, or post a comment about it.
Bring you camera, your camera phone, your flipcams, whatever. As you drive or bike or walk past, take a photo and upload it to our Flickrfeed. We will add the images to Google Earth‘s Panaramio and to a slideshow to commemorate the passing of this troubled legacy of urban renewal and upheaval. Add your reflections on this moment that signals the end of an era and the passing of a neighborhood into history to your photos, or post a comment about it.
The building won’t be blown up, but it will be knocked apart, over several weeks. But on Monday evening, like ghostly manifestations, the rhythm of poetry and young voices will flash from windows of the last building standing at Cabrini-Green.
Once the demolition starts, you can view a live video feed from the Project Cabrini Green site. And read more about the details, planning, and participants in this example of public art from the Project’s site,
“… the last high-rise building at the Cabrini-Green housing projects (1230 N. Burling St., Chicago) will be lit up in the form of 134 LED lights, one for each apartment in the building. The light installation will be visible in the evenings during the four-week demolition period. As the building is razed, the lights will be demolished along with the building.
…Project Cabrini Green, is a community-based art project conceived by artist and educator Jan Tichy. Project Cabrini Green involved over 200 people to realize, from Cabrini-Green and the wider city. Jan Tichy is represented by Richard Gray Gallery.”
Related articles
- As the Lights Go Out in Cabrini, Public Art Illuminates Final Building (chicagoist.com)
- Documenting the Ongoing Story of Cabrini-Green (chicagoist.com)
- As the Walls Come Down (chicagoreader.com)
