Chicago Tribune: Gov. J.B. Pritzker required Illinoisans to begin wearing protective face masks in public beginning Friday. The Art Institute lions and the Daley Center Picasso jumped the gun.
Crews Thursday morning installed artisanal masks onto the downtown Chicago icons, a message to the rest of Chicago — and Illinois — that we can handle a little sacrifice, a little disruption of the face we present the public, for the sake of the common good.
3 comments:
I love everything about this, and I think the team that came together to do this for the community deserves a lot of credit. The messages behind these now mask-wearing public sculptures are really important to spread to the people in public right now—disrupting your appearance to protect public health is more important, and everyone needs to do it. I know that when I was wearing masks at first, that I felt silly and self-conscious, especially since not many people around me in public were doing it, and I got some funny looks from others. BUT, to see art in public of iconic figures wearing the masks, is amazing support to remind people to do it, and it’s fun and uplifting at the same time. Symbolizing and promoting the science of prevention is SO important, and I’m very grateful that the arts and city institutions of Chicago agree and are taking action.
My home city! It is so cute to see the city do little gestures like this to spread a message. It may seem a bit silly, but it’s an important message to send to the people of Chicago, especially when it seems that Chicago is going to peak in mid-May. I am out in the suburbs so I have yet to personally see the art statutes with the masks, but it makes me want to drive out to the city and see them (from my car). It adds a cute topical addition to these statues. It is saying what needs to be said: “if the statues can do it, you should too”. I hope that the city of Chicago will continue to isolate and wear masks going into the summer. The city is a hotspot for spreading this virus, so the more precautions taken, the better it will be for the future of the city.
This is the kind of thing I love. It's hardly high brow art, but it has a little bit of impact for a lot of people, and when done right (and I think Chicago has done it right), it can really inspire a sense of community and solidarity that is so important when facing a any crisis, and especially one that requires mass individual sacrifice and changes to way of life for the good of the collective. It's little messages and gestures like these that help people get through the crisis. I hope that more organizations and municipalities will continue to make these gestures. I know there have been a few; gelling windows to make heart shaped lights on the side of high rises in (I think) Denver comes to mind. It's important to give people symbols to rally behind, and I think any good leader is going to realize that. I hope we will see more examples soon.
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