5531 S. Martin Luther King Dr.
Chicago, IL 60637
Description
This broken-tile mosaic enlivens the stairwell of the Washington Park field house. It was created during the summer of 2000 under the guidance of Evelyn Henton, who worked with ten students from Sexton Elementary School.
The composition depicts park imagery, including a bench, a garden, and a bright yellow sun that peaks out from behind the top of a large tree. The scene is united by a colorful path that arcs across the landscape. Various individuals are depicted within the path’s colored blocks; each of them represents a different sport or activity, such as running, field hockey, cheerleading, and volleyball. Just inside the lower section of the path, a blue pool is portrayed with curling white waves. At the center, a giant bumblebee hovers over the garden, ready to swoop down toward a red rose. These motifs provide a sense of daily life in Washington Park, which offers a wide variety of activities for adults and children.
The mosaic was one of several artworks produced in the late 1990s and early 2000s through the Chicago Park District’s Mosaic Parks Project. Several other mosaics of a similar style are on display at other parks, including Anderson, Douglas, Fuller, Ogden, and Seward.
Location: Field house lobby stairwell