{"id":582469,"date":"2026-08-04T01:56:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T01:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/582469\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T01:56:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T01:56:20","slug":"englewood-sculpture-garden-opens-on-former-vacant-lots-a-positive-footprint-for-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/582469\/","title":{"rendered":"Englewood Sculpture Garden Opens On Former Vacant Lots: ‘A Positive Footprint For The Community’"},"content":{"rendered":"

ENGLEWOOD \u2014 An outdoor sculpture garden that will feature a rotating gallery of local artwork debuted over the weekend in Englewood, bringing a new community arts space to former vacant lots in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The Englewood Arts Collective<\/a> held a soft opening Sunday for the Arts Village Sculpture Park, 6300 S. May St., featuring two exhibits, a collaborative mural and live music. Artists and neighbors alike got the chance to peruse the park\u2019s offerings and learn about the history of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re thinking of this as a long-form pop-up,\u201d said Janell Nelson, a co-founder of the Arts Collective. \u201cWe know that this can be a positive footprint for the community, and we want as many artists as possible to have their art shown here.\u201d<\/p>\n

By transforming the lots into a community sculpture garden, Nelson is aiming to rewrite the negative narratives around Englewood and promote the arts in the neighborhood where she grew up, she said.<\/p>\n

\"Ald.Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) stands next to a \u2018rising star\u2019 sculpture on display at the Arts Village Sculpture Park. Aug. 2, 2026. Credit: Charles Thrush\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

Nelson plans to move different public art collections through the space and even host \u201cart markets\u201d in the park starting next year, where local artists from all over the South Side can display and sell their art.<\/p>\n

One of the current exhibitions at the sculpture park is a collection of \u201crising star\u201d sculptures that the Magnificent Mile Association commissioned the Englewood Arts Collective to design and set along the bustling Downtown corridor last year. The sculptures had been sitting idle since the end of the original exhibition, and Nelson saw Sunday\u2019s launch as a perfect opportunity to highlight some of the collective\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are reclaimed star sculptures that were previously on the Mag Mile,\u201d she said. \u201cI wondered, why extract talent from us to just leave our art somewhere. So I was like, let\u2019s reclaim our sculptures and bring them here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other sculptures in the park are part of \u201cThe Stories of Us\u201d collection<\/a>, a larger exhibition currently stopping in Chicago for its nationwide tour, with some sculptures on display in Douglass Park and at Navy Pier. The pieces are shaped like large drums and feature artwork challenging many preconceived narratives about American identity, said Ashley Shaw Scott Adjaye, co-founder and CEO of The Stories of Us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are interested in how we tell the story of the United States from the perspective of the people, broadly and inclusively,\u201d Adjaye said Sunday. \u201cThis is an emotional day for us, celebrating this collaboration that came about. We were just like-minded people [who] came together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"\u2018The Stories of Us\u2019 exhibition on display at the Arts Village Sculpture Park. Aug. 2, 2026. Credit: Charles Thrush\/Block Club Chicago<\/p>\n

\"\"Englewood Arts Collective co-founder Janell Nelson speaking during the Arts Village Sculpture Park\u2019s soft opening on Aug. 2, 2026. Credit: Charles Thrush\/Block Club Chciago<\/p>\n

Nelson has been dreaming up a gallery space for years, but frequently encountered difficulties with property ownership. She enlisted the help of Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th), who helped secure the vacant lots at the intersection of 63rd and May streets. To fund the space, the collective sourced grant funding from several sponsors, including a $100,000 grant from the Driehaus Foundation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is like multi-millions of dollars worth, and we do not have that,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI\u2019m not proud to say that most of us didn\u2019t get paid much for this, but this is an expression of love, and I want this to be the beginning of more support and more funding for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jerrod \u201cJust Flo\u201d Anderson, Englewood\u2019s go-to muralist and fellow Arts Collective member, helped work on a section of a large mural flanking the west end of the park. Anderson dedicated his piece to elders in his community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this was just a vacant lot, it would be doing nothing but collecting litter every day,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cBut when our people see us putting this together, then the space becomes a part of the community. It uplifts for the elders because a lot of them have seen it look like nothing for a while. So we inspire them, and then on the other end, we got the little ones here who get to hear the stories of their elders.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the park\u2019s most distinct features is a mirror gate at its entrance on May Street, designed to \u201cmake sure people can see themselves,\u201d Anderson said.<\/p>\n

The park will host festivities during the Englewood Music Festival Sept. 12, organizers said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ENGLEWOOD \u2014 An outdoor sculpture garden that will feature a rotating gallery of local artwork debuted over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,204,61,60],"class_list":["post-582469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-featured","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}