Public Art Beyond Downtown: Assessing Art Initiatives on the Northwest Side of Chicago

This paper explores the creation and implementation of two different public art initiatives on the Northwest side of Chicago. The first is a sculpture park and healing garden in the Albany Park neighborhood planned by a local community development organization, while the second is a mural initiative in the 45th Ward coordinated by the alderman’s office. Through analysis of both interviews and site visits, this paper demonstrates that communities take up art initiatives for the perceived benefits of both economic growth and community development. This paper finds that political fragmentation is a major problem for urban art initiatives. Art initiatives led by the 45th Ward alderman have been generally more successful in the short-term because political leadership avoids the worst effects of fragmentation, but this paper theorizes that community-led projects have the potential to be more durable over time because they don’t have to contend with electoral turnover. While there is no direct evidence demonstrating a positive connection between art initiatives and economic development, the paper concludes that community development is a tangible result of art initiatives. Along with focused leadership, community involvement in the planning and implementation stages of an art initiative is of vital importance to the overall success of the project. Furthermore, the successful inclusion of local aerosol artists within the 45th Ward project signals the benefits of integrating this vital arts community in urban art initiatives.