During our 2022 Parks as Democracy? Luncheon and Conference, we celebrated individuals and groups who do so much for Chicago's parks and park users. Click here to return to the full list of VIP (Volunteers-in-Parks) Awardees.
Innovation
Rio de Bienvenida Project
Not many people know about the Canalport Riverwalk Park, tucked between Bubbly Creek, the South Branch of the Chicago River, and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. It’s not as famous as the riverwalk downtown but this little gem offers views of the Damen Silos, Sims Scrap Metal Recycling and the Chicago skyline.
The Rio de Bienvenida Project, led by artists Cynthia Weiss and Delilah Salgado and educators Citlalli Trujillo and Rachel Havrelock, is a public art project seeking to activate this park as a community space that connects people to a body of water that unites the entire city of Chicago while bringing attention to environmental racism and lack of green space in Pilsen, Little Village, McKinley Park, Archer Heights, Brighton Park, and Bridgeport. As neighborhoods plagued with industrial pollution, the project provides an ingenious space for community members to come together and plan for a future with cleaner air and water and create access to green space.
The Chicago Tribune wrote about it, saying, “Two years ago, Citlalli Trujillo was researching the Chicago River as part of a fellowship at University of Illinois at Chicago. She remembers looking at the curves and bends of the river on Google Maps and noticing that it cut through her neighborhood of Pilsen. She couldn’t find any access points in the area so she went to look for one."
Three generations of Trujillo’s family have lived in Pilsen, but it took some exploration and the help of three strangers to find the Canalport Riverwalk Park, a 5-acre park tucked under a bridge over the South Branch of the river and surrounded by communities that have long fought for environmental justice.
“The neighborhoods around here ended up sacrificing their access to the river, but they were also very vital and crucial to building Chicago,” Trujillo said. “They don’t get to experience the benefits of all the infrastructure, they mostly bear the burden.”
Nestled between several industrial centers, wild grasses and seating areas line the gravel path following the curve of the river. The air smells of exhaust from trucks passing on Ashland Avenue. Often, a few people can be found fishing on the bank, or the occasional jogger might pass by. But many in the surrounding neighborhoods of Pilsen, McKinley Park and Bridgeport said they’ve never heard of the park.
Now Trujillo is part of a project to help residents see this strip of green space as a true park rather than just an industrial zone.”
“The group’s vision involves hosting workshops for community members to draw images of water and what environmental justice means to them, first on paper then converted to pieces of laser cut metal embedded in the fence. At the event in September, some of the sketches submitted by attendees depict fish, smiling children holding hands and an acknowledgment to Native American tribes that first occupied land near the river.”
We are excited that this project was funded through Earth Art Chicago, that FOTP was a part of, which is providing financial support for 11 projects across neighborhoods to help inspire action toward climate change and environmental justice. Thank you to all the individual and organizational partners making this space come to life!
Rio de Bienvenida Project
Not many people know about the Canalport Riverwalk Park, tucked between Bubbly Creek, the South Branch of the Chicago River, and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. It’s not as famous as the riverwalk downtown but this little gem offers views of the Damen Silos, Sims Scrap Metal Recycling and the Chicago skyline.
The Rio de Bienvenida Project, led by artists Cynthia Weiss and Delilah Salgado and educators Citlalli Trujillo and Rachel Havrelock, is a public art project seeking to activate this park as a community space that connects people to a body of water that unites the entire city of Chicago while bringing attention to environmental racism and lack of green space in Pilsen, Little Village, McKinley Park, Archer Heights, Brighton Park, and Bridgeport. As neighborhoods plagued with industrial pollution, the project provides an ingenious space for community members to come together and plan for a future with cleaner air and water and create access to green space.
The Chicago Tribune wrote about it, saying, “Two years ago, Citlalli Trujillo was researching the Chicago River as part of a fellowship at University of Illinois at Chicago. She remembers looking at the curves and bends of the river on Google Maps and noticing that it cut through her neighborhood of Pilsen. She couldn’t find any access points in the area so she went to look for one."
Three generations of Trujillo’s family have lived in Pilsen, but it took some exploration and the help of three strangers to find the Canalport Riverwalk Park, a 5-acre park tucked under a bridge over the South Branch of the river and surrounded by communities that have long fought for environmental justice.
“The neighborhoods around here ended up sacrificing their access to the river, but they were also very vital and crucial to building Chicago,” Trujillo said. “They don’t get to experience the benefits of all the infrastructure, they mostly bear the burden.”
Nestled between several industrial centers, wild grasses and seating areas line the gravel path following the curve of the river. The air smells of exhaust from trucks passing on Ashland Avenue. Often, a few people can be found fishing on the bank, or the occasional jogger might pass by. But many in the surrounding neighborhoods of Pilsen, McKinley Park and Bridgeport said they’ve never heard of the park.
Now Trujillo is part of a project to help residents see this strip of green space as a true park rather than just an industrial zone.”
“The group’s vision involves hosting workshops for community members to draw images of water and what environmental justice means to them, first on paper then converted to pieces of laser cut metal embedded in the fence. At the event in September, some of the sketches submitted by attendees depict fish, smiling children holding hands and an acknowledgment to Native American tribes that first occupied land near the river.”
We are excited that this project was funded through Earth Art Chicago, that FOTP was a part of, which is providing financial support for 11 projects across neighborhoods to help inspire action toward climate change and environmental justice. Thank you to all the individual and organizational partners making this space come to life!
