Prairie Boat (Chicago, Illinois)

Prairie Boat (Chicago, Illinois)

Subject (Topic)
African Americans--Chicago (Ill.)
Chicago (Ill.)--History
American Midwest
Public art
Public sculpture
Underground Railroad

Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture

The design of this 40-foot-long gathering space connects the African American Water Trail, the natural spaces of Beaubien Woods on the Far South Side of Chicago, and the Little Calumet River. The space marks the beginning of the Trail, which contains Underground Railroad sites. The boat design is a reference to the journeys undertaken by those travelers on Chicago’s Underground Railroad along the river. The blue log path inside the gathering space and the columned portal that it leads to also represent journeys—their entries and exits. Furthermore, the portal itself is an entryway to another path, a natural one in the Forest Preserves, again symbolizing a way out of bondage and toward freedom.

Perri, Christine (designer and sculptor), 1953-

Photographs by Christine Perri

June 10, 2023

Roman Villarreal (sculptor, animal seats and log/concrete benches); Patrick Thompson (painter, Heroes); Jittaun Priest (painter, Past, Present, Future); Osei Agyeman-Badu (painter, Underground Railroad Quilts); Kadija Stallings (painter, Slavery and Ancestry); Ajiah Gilbert (log path painter); Leslie Leon-Aguilar (log path painter); Maybelline Mariscal (log path painter); Craig Klucina of Plane-Spoken Furniture (prow, portal roof); Greencorps Chicago (landscaper); Juliette Tyson, Mission Coordinator, Imani Village, (community partner); Imani Village (project partner); Field Museum of Natural History (project partner); Openlands (project partner); Forest Preserves of Cook County (project partner); Far South Chicago Coalition (project partner); Walder Foundation (funder); Illinois Department of Natural Resources (funder); Coastal Management Program (funder); and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce) (funder).

Forest Preserves of Cook County, 536 North Harlem Avenue, River Forest, Illinois, 60305, United States

JPEG

English

Visual Arts-Sculpture

Beaubien Woods Forest Preserve, W Doty Ave S, southeast of E 130th St & S Ellis Ave, Chicago, Illinois, 60633, United States

Sculpture, multi-media installation