GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are quitting, or even thinking of quitting, please -- join us!
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bri⋅co⋅lage [bree-kuh-lahzh, brik-uh-]
–noun, plural bri⋅co⋅la⋅ges [bree-kuh-lah-zhiz, ‑lahzh, bri⋅co⋅lage.
- a construction made of whatever materials are at hand; something created from a variety of available things.
- (in literature) a piece created from diverse resources.
- (in art) a piece of makeshift handiwork.
- the use of multiple, diverse research methods.
From Huffington Post (June 15, 2009): Installation Starts on New Bricolage at Foster Viaduct
After months of community design and tile-making workshops that drew on local Native American history, over a hundred community volunteers, including many from the Native American community, painted the design outline for the piece on the north and south walls on a beautiful spring night in late May.
A team of young apprentices started its installation Monday, June 15. Called "Indian Land Dancing", the piece will be the first major public art in Chicago that honors Native American perspectives and contributions to the city. It will cover some 3,400 square feet.
More photos of volunteers at work on the megamural construction:
48th Ward Alderwoman Mary Ann Smith, who championed "Living," has been a prime mover behind the new piece. It was Smith who insisted that the bricolage focus on the Native American experience, and she was among the dozens of volunteers with paintbrushes who slowed traffic while the design was applied. Dorene Wiese, the President of the American Indian Association of Illinois, was there as well. "We've been waiting thirty years for something like this," she said. "Now there will finally be a place we can bring our kids that really reflects our pride." Before the end of summer the Foster viaduct will become a point of pride for the whole city, sparkling and timely evidence of the power of the arts to beautify and build communities.
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Having the day off, and a Monday PM GUS diary slot to fill, I had planned on constructing a reasonably lightweight photo diary of the Chicago lake shore (by bicycle, of course!). Got some miles in, going as far south as Soldier Field, and north to the Foster Avenue beach, where I cooled my feet.
After taking off from the beach, I passed through the Foster Avenue viaduct, and was lucky enough to have caught the young artists wrapping up their day of work. One lane of traffic in either direction was coned off to provide a safety barrier for the work, and traffic became somewhat backed up around 4PM or so. Yet, a number of vehicles tapped their horns in support of this project.
Happy Monday, all you Gussacks, supporters, and interested observers! Here's to GUS, a bricolage in its own right (yay, gratuitous tie-in), a clearinghouse of ideas and a tremendous source of support.
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