The Icing

Before this trip, I'd only been to Chicago once for a day. In 1996, I visited my friend Barb who lived in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. We drove down to the city for a day to go to the Art Institute and then ate at a random restaurant nearby before driving back. It was a quick trip, memorable chiefly for the great art we saw (Chagall's White Crucifixion was particularly moving) and for the chance to spend time with a friend during a difficult time in my life. I'd always wanted to go back, to see more of the one great American city (New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago) that was still largely unfamiliar to me. Over the last few days, I was finally able to return.

Although I was in Chicago for a conference which took up most of my time, I enjoyed visiting Millennium Park on Wednesday and walking on Michigan Avenue. The park itself included some stunning work.

The pavilion designed by the great Frank Gehry.

Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate which reflects the striking Chicago skyline.

Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain with images of a cross section of Chicago inhabitants.

And the outdoor ice skating rink where I watched a young Cambodian woman hot dog around the rink, long hair flying behind her.

I'm not a fan of cold weather (as I sit typing with two fleece jackets on!), yet I enjoyed walking around the crowded, beautiful Millennium Park. I'm happy that downtown urban spaces are being revitalized, that so many cities understand the importance of a central area that draws people from different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. It seems to me that our nation would be a better place if we turned away from the exclusionary suburban idea of safety which too often turns into homogenous communities. We need to get over our fear of difference and embrace the beautiful variety that is the United States. I see urban space as something that invites co-existence and multiplicity. I suppose one could argue that shopping malls do the same thing, however, I'd rather that spaces characterized by heterogeneity be consumer/commercial free (of course, Millennium Park isn't, but that's another blog post).