Drs. Gayatri Reddy and Anna Guevarra, “Block Party” Mural Installation for ‘The Dis/Placements: A People’s History of Uptown Project’
Inspired by conversations with members of the Winthrop Family and research in the Dis/Placements Project archive, the artist Tia Etu conceptualized and painted this mural, titled “Block Party,” which is located in the Winthrop Historical Garden. The Winthrop Historical Garden was originally established by NeighborSpace thanks to the efforts of community members such as the late Joyce Dugan and Deborah Baumgartner. It was dedicated in 2009 by then alderperson Helen Shiller. The garden was re-dedicated in 2022 by then Mayor Lori Lightfoot after it was redesigned by the landscape architecture firm MKSK through a City of Chicago Public Outdoor Plaza (POP!) grant. The mural itself was also funded by a POP! grant that Uptown United facilitated.
The mural project began in Spring 2024 and was completed in Fall 2024. It commemorates the Winthrop Family, who are descendants of African American families that were restricted to live on one block in Uptown at the turn of the 20th century due to a race restrictive covenant. Drs. Reddy and Guevarra have worked with the family since 2018 and took it upon themselves to work with the Uptown chamber of commerce to ensure that the stories of the family remain visible in the garden by insisting on a public mural, recruiting a muralist, and providing historical content for the mural and the banners that acknowledge and pay tribute to the families that lived there.
For more on the project 'Dis/Placements: A People’s History of Uptown' please click here.
To view photos of the painted mural please click here.