Bronzeville

Chicago, IL - 1996

My proposal was to create an illustrated bronze map containing a collage of images from the history of the South Side of Chicago. The area was called the Black Belt, because after the Civil War large numbers of freed slaves followed the Mississippi River north to this area on the South Side. It was a strip of land between railroad tracks and swampy marshes where these newcomers settled. Before long it became a hot bed of creativity of all types: visual artists, jazz musicians, poets and writers. It grew into a thriving black community, which along with Harlem became a center Black life in America. I worked on my project for a year, and then returned to 34th Street on the South Side to install my bronze relief map which contained a couple of hundred of relief illustrations.  I was very happy with my accomplishment, 

During the install as I kneeled down with a couple assistants testing if the  pieces of my map would fit into the depressions in the paving, I overheard  a couple of Chicago cops musing about how much they could sell them for. They had no idea that I was the artist so I felt compelled to call them out, “Gentlemen I am the artist who created these bronze pieces and I’ve written  down both your badge numbers. Should they go missing I promise you’ll both lose your jobs. Capish?” 40 years later the works are still in place.