Street Art

One of the things I enjoy about Chicago is the way art pops up around the city. A few weeks ago, when I arrived at the children’s museum, I saw some large round sculptures that looked intriguing. They didn’t look finished, so I waited till the next week to walk over to them to see what they were.

The last two smaller ones didn’t have any artist information, and one wasn’t finished, but I’m glad I went over to look at them then because they were gone by the next week. I’m sad that I didn’t try to find out why they were there because they were part of Mexico Fest, which was at Navy Pier, and it looks like it would have been great. (It is a pet peeve of mine that Navy Pier doesn’t have a physical “This Week at Navy Pier” poster sign or screen at the entrance. There are some screens throughout the Pier that feature some events, but you have to catch them at the right moment.)

I researched the sculptures, and it turns out that these “monumental ceramic inspired figures from Chihuahua” are in the Mata Ortiz Style. Mata Ortiz pottery is a “recreation of the Mongolian pottery found in and around the archeological site of Casa Grandes (Paquilé) in the Mexican state of Chihuahua” Its too bad they didn’t get to stay in Chicago for awhile.

But there’s always something new. One morning, as my daughter was driving to work and talking to me on the phone (as she does) exclaimed “Ooh somewhere in the city is getting a bunch of butterflies. A truck just passed me with a whole bunch of butterflies in the back.” And then the next time I was going to the children’s museum, I saw one from the bus window and another one when I got off the bus.

It turns out they are part of Flight of the Butterflies, an initiative of the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum and that they are appearing throughout the city so I’ll be keeping an eye out for them!