Yuccabloom: A Memoir of Meaningful Meanderings: Saying Goodbye to Chicago, Part Twelve: Community Art

In Rogers Park, if you walk east one block on Pratt from Sheridan Road, you will find yourself at Hartigan Beach Park and the blue expanse of Lake Michigan. Somewhat hidden behind residential buildings, Hartigan Beach Park is my favorite public beach in Chicago. Hartigan Beach Park is a great way to experience community. Going there, you will see mostly families, or people walking their dogs, or friends strolling down the walk and talking, trying to relax after a long day's work. You will also encounter a large number of languages being spoken: Spanish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Hindi, and various East Asian and African languages I have yet to identify.

Two years ago, during the summer when I first moved back to Chicago, I would come here for solitary sitting meditation. Listening to the ebb and flow of my breath, I would extend that attention outward to Lake Michigan, with its rhythmic undulations, and to the breeze that would rustle the leaves of trees, until my eyes would rest their gaze on the water and its blue, almost metallic sheen. All the while, I was witnessing life in motion, people walking and talking about their lives, the sound of men playing volleyball in the park behind me, the seagulls squawking and flapping their wings into flight. Each individual living its particular life, minding its own business, yet coming together organically to create a greater community of things.

One way the community comes together is by painting murals on a series of concrete benches positioned to face the Lake. It's a great way to express yourself while also beautifying the place. This post is dedicated to Hartigan Beach Park, focusing mainly on some of my favorite park bench murals. I am not going to create captions for these photos, as I think many of them are self-explanatory, but I will include a comment or two, here or there, if I feel called upon to do so.

This is one section of the benches. It's a longer stretch than this.

I love that sun over water, and I am a sucker for anything colorful and that includes text!

This mural reminds me of artwork on The Moody Blues' albums, "Days of Future Passed" and "Question of Balance." I love the Sears Tower which is the building in the top left corner.