Heather Cherone | July 22, 2021 7:08 pm
City municipal crews help guide the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park as it is removed by a crane, Friday, July 24, 2020, in Chicago. A statue of Christopher Columbus that drew chaotic protests in Chicago was taken down early Friday amid a plan by President Donald Trump to dispatch federal agents to the city. (Tyler LaRiviere / Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
A “racial healing and historical reckoning project” launched by Mayor Lori Lightfoot after she removed the city’s three statues of Christopher Columbus has stalled, and the statues remain in storage a year after they were wrenched from their pedestals.
Commissioner of the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Mark Kelly speaks during a press conference about “Open Culture,” a plan to bring back cultural events after they were canceled to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the Goodman Theatre in the Loop, Wednesday afternoon, May 5, 2021.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times file photo
Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events Commissioner Mark Kelly will retire this fall, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday.
Kelly was appointed to his role as DCASE commissioner in July 2016 by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel after working more than 40 years as an administrator for several universities, including Columbia College Chicago, Wayne State University and City Colleges of Chicago.
Time and time again, our city has been challenged in unimaginable ways, with the COVID-19 pandemic being the most recent iteration. But at every step of the way, both Commissioner Kelly and Commissioner Escareño have gone beyond the call of duty to ensure their respective departments were ready to respond to the needs of our residents, said Mayor Lightfoot. Through a collective of nearly four decades worth of hard work and leadership, Commissioner Kelly and Commissioner Escareño have truly made our city a better place and words cannot encapsulate how grateful I am for their personal sacrifice over the past 16 months. I wish them both nothing but the best as they embark on this exciting next chapter of their lives and enjoy their well-earned retirement.
After this week’s harsh winter storm dropped as much as 18 inches of snow across Chicago and the suburbs, the focus has shifted to potential flooding and falling ice, with temperatures slated to warm up. In a news release Friday afternoon, the city of Chicago encouraged residents to exercise caution and take several preventative measures ahead of thawing, which is…
According to the Chicago Monuments Project, “many art historians regard Lincoln Park’s ‘Standing Lincoln’ as one of the 19th century’s greatest masterpieces of public art.” But the project also has placed the statue on a list of 40 monuments that are being reviewed.
Sun-Times file
Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed Wednesday to confront the “hard truths of Chicago’s racial history” by launching a public process to review the fate of 41 statues, plaques and works of art, including those of four former U.S. presidents: Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley.
Six months ago, Lightfoot ordered two statues of Christopher Columbus “temporarily” removed in the middle of the night after receiving “intelligence that gave us great concern” something bad was about to happen.