Join us in celebrating the opening of five community-designed gathering spaces along the south lakefront, the Burnham Wildlife Corridor.

These designs were selected by a process led by community organizers and artists, the Burnham Wildlife Corridor Curatorial Committee. For more information please email Aasia, acastaneda@fieldmuseum.org.

It starts at:
Burnham Wildlife Corridor
E. 47th Street & Cornell Drive

Getting There
Join a group bike ride, including Slow Roll through Pilsen & Chinatown and Go Bronzeville from Bronzeville
Bike down the lakefront Divvy station at Lake Park Ave and 47th street
Public transportation: bus routes: 2, 6, 15, 28 or 47
Driving, very limited metered parking will be available at 39th street & 31st street parking lot

THERE WILL BE A SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE AVAILABLE FROM CULTURA IN PILSEN, 1900 SOUTH CARPENTER. WRITE TO MPUJOLS@CONTRATIEMPO.NET TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT

HABRÁ SERVICIO DE AUTOBÚS AL LUGAR DE LA INAUGURACIÓN DESDE CULTURA IN PILSEN, 1900 SOUTH CARPENTER. CONTACTA A MPUJOLS@CONTRATIEMPO.NET PARA RESERVAR

Opening Ceremony at 10am
A cross-cultural performance of music and dance bridging the Bronzeville, Chintatown and Pilsen communities Lion Dance Troupe (Chicago Chinese Cultural Center), Nauha Lessons (Mexica Drumming), and others.

CARACOL ACTIVITIES:
Gathering Spaces hold Open House from 11am-3pm
After the opening ceremony the trail opens for participants to explore a trail fearturing the new gathering spaces. Check out the designs for each space: Sankofa For the Earth, Sounding Bronzeville, Set in Stone, La Ronda Parakata, and Caracol.

Food Vendors open from 12-1:30pm
Yvolinas Tamales, Yum Dum, and more!

More Information
For general questions or information on ADA accessibility, please contact acastaneda@fieldmuseum.org or carolina.macias@chicagoparkdistrict.com.

North of the Margaret Burroughs Beach, a Caracol-inspired gathering space with a Mesoamerican hop scotch game will be part of a new trail in the Burnham Wildlife Corridor. This will be one of five sites installed in spring of 2016 by teams of artists and community-based organizations whose designs are inspired both by local ecology, as well as the heritage of communities adjacent to the south lakefront.

Moving along the trail, just past the 31st Harbor, an intertwined monarch butterfly sculpture crowns a hill, this design will be circled with common milkweed. West of Lake Shore Drive on 31st Street, south on the trail, a Scholar’s rock sits in a grove of mature oak trees; have a seat and imagine the sounds of traffic as waves from an ocean, urban nature at its best. Crossing 39th street/Oakwood, on the west side of Lake Shore Drive, designed for growth every year, sculpted willow branches take organic shapes. The woodchip trail continues, a fallen tree hugs a bird sculpture born from the Sankofa symbol, a soulful reflection on nature.

The Gathering Spaces, part of the Roots & Routes Initiative, were curated by a volunteer committee comprised of arts professionals and community leaders.

Lead artists: Georgina Valverde, Diana Solis
Non-profit partner: contratiempo (Pilsen) – preserves and highlights the cultural identity and contributions of the Spanish-speaking Latino population in the United States.

Description: This project is based on the interior shape of the conch shell —a logarithmic spiral– which represents the desire to belong while also maintaining the core of memory and identity. Language and images will feature prominently within a spiral open-ended structure that can function as a work or picnic table and community mural surface. The table/mural will be covered with wood or concrete slabs that can be painted with designs by community groups and artists. The installation will also include a stage for outdoor performances, as well as native plants and sculptural artistic elements.

Official Website

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Tags: contratiempo, Diana Solís, Filed Museum, Georgina Valverde