Chicago Rising from the Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chicago Rising from the Lake | |
|---|---|
 1954 photo of Milton Horn with a quarter scale model of his Chicago Rising from the Lake | |
  Chicago Rising from the Lake | |
| Artist | Milton Horn |
| Year | 1954 |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Subject | Rebirth and leadership |
| Dimensions | (7 ft (2.1 m) in × 12 ft (3.7 m) in) |
| Weight | 3.5 tons |
| Condition | Restored |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois |
| 41°53′21″N 87°37′14″W / 41.88917°N 87.62056°W | |
| Owner | City of Chicago |
Chicago Rising from the Lake (1954) is a bronze sculpture by Milton Horn. The sculpture shows a woman, rising from waters of Lake Michigan, with flames, animals and wheat. It represents Chicago's rebirth after the Great Chicago Fire, and subsequent rise to become a leader in transportation, stockyards and commodities.
In 1953 the Chicago Department of Public Works awarded Milton Horn a US$5,000 commission to create the sculpture.[1] It was the first sculpture purchased by the city of Chicago since 1892.[2] Horn began by constructing a quarter-sized model of the sculpture in his studio.[3] He completed the main sculpture in 1954 and it was installed in a parking garage in 1955. In 1983 the statue was removed when the garage was razed. After removal it was intended to be installed at Chicago's Civic Opera House, but funds could not be raised. The sculpture was then lost until 1987: it was eventually found in an empty swimming pool at that time, and moved.[4][5] The bronze sculpture was lost again until a Chicago firefighter found it lying in a makeshift dump in 1997.[1]
The city decided to restore the piece and in 1998 it was placed on the Chicago Riverwalk, affixed to a wall beneath the northwest corner of the Columbus Drive bridge. The city paid $60,000 to restore the sculpture but three bronze bars were missing when the sculpture was installed in 1998. A private donor paid to have the bars recast and added to the sculpture in 2004.[1]
