Bridge [Lakefront Sculpture Exhibit - 2009]

Bridge
Artist: Jennifer Dickson ..
Location: Clark and Lincoln
Description: 4’ x 7.25’ x 3.75’ • Fiberglass with Iron Armature
Sponsor: Old Town Triangle Association

Earlier I had written that this piece is "Untitled" and scuptor "Unknown"...
Well today I found informatiuon on this piece ... It's part of the Lakeshore Sculptor Exhibit ... It's website describes this piece as .. click here ..

The sleek, elongated body can remind the viewer of a gymnast. The title, “Bridge”, brings to mind a more spiritual consideration. The use of a human form as a bridge serves to remind us of the immense potential that we all carry. The seeming lightness of this sculpture parallels its strength and potential.






# For more images in this blog, from Lakefront Sculpture Exhibit .. click here ...
# For official website of Lakefront Sculpture Exhibit, click here ..

Siblings

Siblings
Sculptor: Rosetta ..
Unveiled: 1997 ..
Location: West of the Matthew Laflin Memorial Building on Clark Street .

Two young mountain lions reclining ..

Dream Lady / Eugene Field Memorial

Unfortunately the day of my visit, was a hot sunny day, with sun shining right above ... and I could not manage to take decent photos. Yeah excuses excuses ..








Eugene Field Memorial ..
Sculptor: Edward Francis McCartan ..
Unveiled: 1922 ..
Location: Lincoln Park Zoo ..

Eugene Field was best known from his children's poetry and humorous essays. This memorial erected in 1922, has a statue of the "Dream Lady" from his poem, "Rock-a-by-Lady" ...



Have you ever heard of the sugar plum tree.
Tis a mearvel of great renown
It blooms on the shore of lollipop sea
In the garden of shut-eye town ..



Wynken blinken and nod one night
sailed off in a wooden shoe
sailed on a river of crystal light
into a sea of dew ...

The Children's Fountain

The Children's Fountain ...
Dedicated: 1982 ..
Description: 30 feet in diameter and stands about 30 feet high.
A project of former Chicago mayor Jane Byrne ..
Location: Near Chicago History Museum ...
At the northeast corner of Clark St. & North Ave... Chicago, IL 60639 ..

A plaque reads ..
Dedicated to all children in Chicago who will take from our past to better our future ..





It was previously located on Wacker Drive, and now it stands in the corner of North Avenue and Clark Street.

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Left image: The Pavilion .. and the lily pool ...



Alfred Caldwell Lily Pol ...
Architect: Alfred Caldwell
Year Built: 1936-1938
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: November 6, 2002 ..

This serene and beautiful "hidden garden" is next to the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory ..It was first landscaped in 1889 and designated as a place in which to cultivate tropical water lilies .. In the 1930's, it was re-designed by landscape architect Alfred Caldwell. It's made in the tradition of the Prairie School, influenced by such greats as Frank Lloyd Wright and Caldwell’s teacher, Jens Jensen.





The new design for the pool area used plants indigenous to the Midwest and included stone outcroppings, a pavilion, a cascading waterfall, and several other new features, arranged around a lily pool to create the look of a creek running through a Midwest prairie .. In 1942, Caldwell called the pool "a hidden garden for the people of Megalopolis" ...

Deterioration and Restoration ...
However, a after few years, the Lily Pool was operated like a a bird sanctuary, called The Rookery. Too many birds, destroyed the plants and people were also careless in maintaining this place.

In 1997, a campaign to restore the area was undertaken by the Friends of Lincoln Park organization. The landscape architectural firm of Wolff Clements and Associates was hired to complete the job. The rehabilitation began in 2001 with the replacement of non-native trees and shrubs with others that were bird-friendly and native to the Midwest. Handicapped accessible pathways were installed and existing stone pathways were repaired. The gate, pavilion, and “council ring” [a circular bench] were restored as well.



The Council Ring ..

Reference: Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool Gardens ..click here ..

Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial

Ulysses S. Grant Memorial ...
Sculptor: Louis Rebisso
Installed: 1891
Location: It's in the east end of the Lincoln Park Zoo overlooking the Cannon Drive ...

Interestingly Ulysses Grant's statue is located in the heart of Lincoln Park, whereas Abraham Lincoln's statue is located in the heart of Grant Park .. I've heard some amusing explanation, that there was a mistaken switch that was never corrected ... However the city of Chicago's website explains it as thus .. It's a Chicago curiosity, but can easily be explained by knowing the history of Chicago's prominent lakefront parks. Lincoln Park was Chicago's first park, well established at the time of Grant's death. The mud-covered remains of the Great Chicago Fire would be developed as a series of formal gardens after the turn of the century and named for Grant, another honor for this great Civil War hero.
Although Lincoln Park also has a Lincoln Memorial ... click here ..

Ulysses S. Grant was a resident of Galena, Illinois, and served in the Civil War as General of the Union Army. Grant was twice elected president of the United States. With no political background, Ulysses Grant became president in 1869, but it is for his tremendous military actions that he is honored with this statue which depicts him ready for battle. It was dedicated in 1891.







Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Sculptures at Lincoln Park Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo has some interesting sculptural pieces ...
The most appealing to me is the "Dream Lady" .. The East Gate is fun too ..
# Earlier I had written a post on some designated Chicago Landmark buildings in the Zoo area .. click here ..
This post is on the sculptures in the Lincoln Park Zoo ..



East Gate - Lincoln Park Zoo ..
Sculptor: Greg Leavitt and Camille Leavitt ..
Unveiled: 2002 ..
Located at Lincoln Park Zoo’s East Gate,
Description: This installation features a twisting tropicalvine supporting life-sized figures of a green iguana, colobus monkey, boa constrictor, dragonflies and other animals.. . The arched vine springs from rusticated limestone plinths ..



Dream Lady ..
Sculptor: Edward McCarten
Unveiled: 1922
Location: Northeast of the Helen Brach Primate House
Donor: Schoolchildren and citizens of Chicago, with aid from the Benjamin F. Ferguson Fund
Medium: Bronze figures on granite base
Size: 5' deep by 13'6" wide by 13' tall
Description: Dream Lady features two bronze figures of children below a larger bronze angel, all mounted on a stone base with side extensions inscribed with lines from a Eugene Fields poems ...

For more on "Dream Lady" .. click here ..



The Lesson ..
Sculptor: Darrell Davis .
Unveiled: 2005
Location: Lincoln Park Zoo’s West Gate ..
The statue shows an adult female black bear and two cubs appearing to catch fish from a stream. The tableau rests on top of a dressed limestone plinth marking the pedestrian entrance to the west side of the zoo.



Limestone Lion ..
Sculptor: Kathleen McCullough ..
Location: East side of Wild Things! gift shop ..
This lion is meant to be climbed on.
Donated by CitiCorp, the sculpture serves as a memorial to Rush A. Watkins, former
director of the Lincoln Park Zoological Society.



Pathfinders ..
Sculptor: Veryl Goodnight ..
Unveiled: 2005.
Location: The entrance to the Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo ..
This piece features three North American gray wolves on the move. The tableau rests on top of a dressed limestone plinth marking the pedestrian entrance to the west side of the zoo.



Heron ..
Sculptor: H. Wheatley Allen
Location:t Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo across from the red wolf exhibit ..
This elegant piece depicts a life-sized heron. Donated by James Stuart and unveiled in 1988, it was relocated to its current home from the original Children’s Zoo in 2006.



Elephant Drinking Fountain ...
Sculptor: George Suyeoka
Unveiled: 1992
Location: Center plaza of the historic Great Lawn south of Park Place Café ..
Medium: Bronze
Size: 2'8" long by 1'5" high by 3'8" high
Description: The fountain, mounted on a bronze podium, features an adult female and infant elephant appearing to drink from a shallow pool, which receives water from a drinking spout.



Lion Fountain ...
Sculptor: George Suyeoka
Unveiled: 2006
Medium: Bronze
Location: West of the Kovler Lion House, along the public path ..
Size: 2'8" long by 1'5" wide by 3'8" high
Description: The fountain, mounted on a bronze podium, features a lion pride consisting of an adult male, adult female and three cubs appearing to drink from a shallow pool, which receives water from a drinking spout.




The Fountain for the Young at Heart ..
Sculptor: George Suyeoka
Located between the bear and wolf habitats along the outdoor visitor path of Pritzker
Family Children’s Zoo ..
Description: This tri-cornered children’s drinking fountain has a variety of
near-life-sized small animal figures arranged fancifully.
It was originally commissioned for the zoo’s first Children’s Zoo (1964–2004) and relocated to its new home in 2006.



Sunform ...
Sculptor: David Rodgers ..
Unveiled: 1984; repositioned in 1998 ..
Location: Center plaza of the historic Great Lawn south of Park Place Café ..
Medium: Limestone
Size: The sculpture, which is 6' deep by 8' wide by 8' high, weighs 5 tons.
Description: A modern interpretation of a classic sundial, placed in recognition of The Lincoln Park Zoological Society's 25th anniversary ...



Lowland Gorilla Family ...
Sculptor: Bill Wieger
Location: along the entry path to Regenstein Center for African Apes .
It was unveiled in 2004 and dedicated in 2007.
This piece recreates a lowland-gorilla family at play.



Seal and Sea Lion ...
Sculptor: Dino C. Crisanti ..
Unveiled: 2002.
Location: Kovler Sea Lion Pool
This life-sized bas-relief of a seal and sea lion provides a visual and tactile teaching tool to compare physical features of the two species ..



Rite of Spring ..
Sculptor: Milton Horn
Unveiled: 2004; date of origin unknown
Location: West of Antelope & Zebra Area
Medium: Terra cotta
Size: 4' tall by 4' feet wide by 4' long
Description: A depiction of a ram and an image of Pan, who in Greek mythology was the god of fields, forests, wild animals, flocks and shepherds. The terra cotta sculpture is inserted on a small brick and limestone wall with an integrated bench seat, created specifically for this piece.

For more on "Rite of Spring" .. click here ...





Siblings ..
Sculptor: Rosetta
Unveiled: 1997
Located west of the Matthew Laflin Memorial Building on Clark Street, the sculpture
features two young mountain lions reclining.

For more on "Siblings" .. click here ...

REFERENCES:
Sculptures at LP Zoo .. click here ..
Lincoln Park Sculpture Map and Tour .. click here ..
Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Designated "Chicago Landmarks" at Lincoln Park Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo ...

The zoo has some very beautiful structures ... I will elaborate on them in my blog on Chicago architecture & cityscape ... However I'll mention them here ... All These three are designated as "Chicago Landmark" buildings:
# Cafe Brauer / South Pond Refactory
# Carson Cottage / Men's and Ladies' Comfort Station
# Rovler Lion House



Cafe Brauer / South Pond Refactory ...
Completed: 1908
Architect: Dwight H. Perkins
Location: 2021 N. Stockton Dr.
The building is an outstanding example of the Prairie style architecture ..
On its second-floor is the "Great Hall", which is a fine example of Arts-and-Crafts design. Its designer, Dwight Perkins, was an important progressive architect in Chicago in the early 20th century ...

# For more on Cafe Brauer .. click here ..



Carson Cottage ...
Completed: 1888
Renovated: 2007 ...
Architect: Joseph Lyman Silsbee ..
It's a Victorian-style architecture ...
The Carson Cottage started as a men's and ladies' comfort station [public restroom facility] ... Over the years it withered ... However it was restored by the Lincoln Park Zoo supporrted in part by Save Ameria's Treasures grant ... Now the cottage no longer serves as a restroom, but is the hub for more than 100 volunteers who tend to the zoo’s landscaping and botanical gardens ...

# For more on Carson Cottage .. click here ..



Rovler Lion House ...
Completed: 1912
Architects: Perkins, Fellows & Hamilton ..
The building has excellent brickwork and terracotta ornament, unique lion mosaics and a grand interior with vaulted Guastavino -tile ceiling, an innovative construction technology of the time ...

# For more on Rovler Lion House .. click here ..

Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Rites of Spring

Rites of Spring ..
Sculptor: Milton Horn ..
The terra cotta sculpture, dating from 1952, is mounted on a brick and limestone wall designed for the sculpture. Presented by the Milton Horn Art Trust, it was unveiled in 2004 ..



The plaque reads ...
This terra-cotta work of art by Milton Horn depicts a Ram and an image of Pan, who in Greek mythology was a god of fields, forests, wild animals, flocks and shepards. The sculpture is one of the two identical pieces created in 1952 for the now-demolised Seneca-Walton Building in Chicago. They were reclaimed from a neighborhood streetscape on the city's Near North Side.

Horn was born in Russia in 1906, emigrated to the United States in 1913 and became a naturalized citizen in 1917. he moved to Chicago in 1950. ...



Check out Sculpture at Lincoln Park Zoo .. click here ..
Check out Lincoln Park Sculpture Map and Tour .. click here ..

Lincoln Park Conservatory and Formal Garden

Lincoln Park Conservatory ...
Architect: Joseph Lyman Silsbee ..
in collaboration with architect M.E. Bell ..
* Silsbee also designed the nearby Carlson Cottage # .. click here ..

Completed: The conservatory was constructed in phases between 1890 and 1895 .. It replaced a small greenhouse that dated from the 1870s.
The conservatory has four display houses: the Palm House, Fern Room, Orchid House and Show House [home to the annual flower shows]..



French-style Formal Garden, in front of the conservatory ...



Formal Garden ...
A marker in the Formal Graden reads ...
One of Chicago's oldest existing gardens, Lincoln Park's Formal Garden was designed and planted in the late 1870s. It was one of several landscape improvements made when the park was expanded from its original sixty acres to new boundaries between Diversey Pkwy. and North Ave. [Today, the park stretches from Ardmore St. to Ohio St.] The garden originally surrounded the park's first greenhouse, which dated to the same period. Flowers propagated in the greenhouse were planted in the garden. The formal design of this "French style" garden was considered especially appropriate as the setting of a horticultural facility. The garden remained after the greenhouse was demolished in 1890 and replaced with the impressive Victorian conservatory, which still stands today ..

It is noteworthy that this formal French garden is adjacent to the historic Grandmother's Garden, an English style cottage garden located on the west side of Stockton Drive.

The Formal Garden has been setting for important works of sculptor since it's early history .. It has ...
- The Schiller sculpture, installed 1886 [Sculptor: Ernst Rau] ..
- Stroks at Play, installed 1887 [Sculptor: Augustus Saint-Gaudens]..
- Bust of Sir George Solti, installed 1987 [Sculptor: Elizabeth Frink]





Schiller Monument ..
Sculptor: Ernst Rau
Installed: 1886 ...

Continued from the marker in the Formal Garden ...
This formal garden been the setting for important works of sculpture since its early history. The Monument to Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller, "prince of poets" was commissioned by a group of Chicagoans of German descent and dedicated in 1886 .. An exact replica of a sculpture erected ten years earlier in Schiller's birthplace in Germany, this work is considered a masterpiece of its sculptor Ernst Rau ..



Stroks at Play...
Also known as "Eli Bates Fountain" ...
Installed: 1887 ..
A gift by renowned sculptor: Augustus Saint-Gaudens ...
Location: The Great Garden [Lincoln Park] ..

In 1887 a second sculpture Storkes at Play, also known as the Bates Fountain was placed in the garden. A gift of lumber baron Eli Bates, the fountain sculptures were created by the renowned artist Augustus Siant-Gaudens and his assistant Frederick William MacMonnies.

For more on the Eli Bates Fountain .. click here ...



Bust of Sir George Solti ..
Sculptor: Dame Elizabeth Frink ..
Installed: 1987 ..

Contined from the marker in the formal garden ...
The garden's third sculpture is more recent. Decicated in 1987, the bust of Sir Georg Solti was sculpted by Dame Elizabeth Frink and honors the late Maestro of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra ..



The bust of Sir George Solti has been moved from Lincoln Park to Grant Park ...
Image above: Earlier location in the Lincoln Park ..
Image below: New location in the Grant Park .. click here ..



Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Grandmother's Garden

Grandmother's Garden
Location: Stockton Dr & Webster St, Chicago, IL 60614 ..
Image above: Blue Siberian Squill [Scilla siberica] that has naturalized over many decades blooming under Cornelian Cherry trees .. in the spring of 2009 ..



The marker at Grandmother's Garden reads ...

The undulating beds of Grandmother's garden have flourished on this Lincoln park site since the early 1890's. This naturalistic garden may have originally been created by Carl Stormback, Lincoln Park's head gardner of the late 1880's and early 1890's. Grandmother's Garden was consciously juxtaposed to the formal "French style" garden surrounding the conservatory directly across the street. An article published in 1900 explained that one could not find a better example of the two contrasting styles. It suggested that while Grandmother's Garden was a "profusion of flowers of all kinds combined according to color and foliage, "the Formal Garden was an arrangement of set forms and conventional designs." Additionally, this is a perennial garden, while the Formal Garden is composed of annuals.

Historically, the Grandmother's Garden was also known as the Old English Garden.





Shakespeare Monument ..
Sculptor: William Ordway Partridge ..
Installed: 1893 ..

Continued from the marker in the Grandmother's Garden ..
In 1893, when a William Shakespeare Monument was bequeathed to Lincoln Park by Samuel Johnson, director of the Chicago Railroad Company, the Old English Garden was considered a fitting site. A competition to design the monument was won by sculptor William Ordway Partridge, who had studied hundreds of portraits and busts of the Bard of Avon.



Here's "Queen of the Prairie" [Filipendula rubra] blooming in the garden in summer, 2009 ..

Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Benjamin Franklin Monument

Benjamin Franklin Monument ..
Sculptor: Richard Henry Park .. He made the sculpture for the 1893 World's Fair.
Installed in Lincoln Park: 1896 ..

Benjamin Franklin was a printer, publisher, scientist and an American founding father ...

Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

Hans Cristian Anderson Monument

Hans Cristian Anderson Monument ..
Sculptor: John Gelert
Installed: 1896
Location: Stockton Drive
Hans Cristian Anderson was a Danish storyteller ..

Check out the map of Lincoln Park ..

LaSalle Monument

LaSalle Monument ...
Sculptor: Count Jacques de La Laing..
The statue is donated by Lambert Tree ...
Installed: 1889
Location: 2045 N. Lincoln Park West ..

Robert Cavalier de LaSalle was a French explorer. He was the first European to sail down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed the Mississippi River Basin, which he called the Louisiana Territory, for France. He is sometimes called "the Father of the Louisiana Territory." Later, in 1803, France sold this land to the United States, and that led to the explorations of Lewis and Clark and then the westward expansion of America.

Daphne Garden - Northerly Island

The Daphne Garden ..
Sculptor: Dessa Kirk ..
Location: Northerly Island ..

These three figurative sculptures of Daphne are all made from scraps of discarded Cadillac cars. One the the themes of this Chicago based artist of Dessa Kirk, is to find hidden beauty in ugliness.

I had long wanted to go to the Northerly island, finally I could make it ... and I loved the sculptures ... and to know that these are made of discarded metal scraps of automobiles ... I liked it even more!!!

# Another sculpture by Dessa Kirk, made from scrap metal pieces is Magdalene, in the Congress Parkway .. click here ..







The artist Dessa Kirk used the mold of her own face for the face of Daphne ...



So who was Daphne?
In Green mythology, Daphne was a beautiful girl who preferred to spend her time hunting in the woods rather than meeting men .. Apollo fell desperately in love with Daphne and began chasing her ... She ran from him faster and faster .. When Apollo was about to grasp Daphne she prayed to her father, who transformed her into a laurel tree ... her hair became leaves, her arms became branches, her feet stuck fast in the ground as roots, her face became a tree-top, she retained nothing of her former self but her beautiful face. Apollo stood amazed and said, "since you cannot be my wife, you shall be my tree. I will wear you for my crown." Apollo declared that the leaves of the laurel tree would always be green and he would always wear a wreath of laurel leaves around his head. Since then the laurel has become a symbol of victory in Greek culture.




Northerly Island is a 91 acre peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan .. located just south of the Adler Planetarium and east of Soldier Field. It is a man-made island [rather a peninsula] originally created to house the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1933-34 ...

In the "Plan of Chicago", Daniel H. Burnham had imagined Northerly Island as one of the northern points in a series of manmade islands stretching between the Grant and Jackson Parks. His vision for this park included lagoons, harbors, beaches, recreation areas and grand stretches of green space that would provide breathtaking views of the lake and City skyline.

In 1947, a small airport "Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport" opened here on the Northerly Island ... It was a single-strip airport with about 3,900 feet and 150 feet wide runway ... In a controversial move on March 30, 2003 Mayor Daley ordered the demolition of the runway. This move was highly criticized ... However now the area has been left open for native prairie plants ...

Nicholas J Melas Centennial Plaza and Fountain

Nicholas J Melas Centennial Plaza and Fountain ..
Location: Chicago River Esplanade in the north bank of Chicago River ..

The Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain was built in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. It is is located at McClurg Court and the Chicago River.








The Water Arc Every hour on the hour, from 10:00 to 14:00 and again from 17:00 to midnight, the esplanade's Centennial Fountain shoots a massive arc of water across the river for 10 minutes. The entire exercise is meant to commemorate the labor-intensive reversal of the Chicago River in 1900, which tidily began sending all of the city's wastes downriver rather than into the lake.