In 2005 my crack staff of pumpkin artists tackled the city of Chicago and all that makes it famous. We did the obvious - Capone, Michael Jordan, and Richard J. Daley; the obscure: Saul Bellow, Victor Skrebneski and Shoeless Joe Jackson: and the absurd: Ronald McDonald, Jerry Springer and William "Billy Goat" Siannis.  The carving took place at the legendary Phyllis' Musical Inn in Wicker Park, with over twenty images moving to Millennium Park's Lurie Garden for a two night show - one night for people to enjoy, the next night for waterfowl and umbrella salespeople.

Click below for the Pumpkin-Go-Round

Famous Chicago - Phyllis' Musical Inn

The Best of Famous Chicago - Millennium Park's Lurie Garden
to enter the Famous Chicago Gallery Extravaganza.
click on the montage below

 

Officially dedicated in July 2004, Millennium Park in downtown Chicago is the city's gem of public spaces. Incredible sculptures, art and architecture, fountains, gardens, musical performances and open spaces, the 24.5 acre park in the heart of the city is already one of the most popular destinations in Chicago.

The Lurie Garden is a prairie within the park, and offers a long boardwalk along a "stream" that flows through the garden. Across from the stream is a large stone wall the length of the boardwalk, the display place for the "Best of Famous Chicago" Show. Downtown Chicago offers very little space suitable for a carved pumpkin display - shelter from the wind and, more importantly, shelter from all of the bright lights inherent in the downtown of a major metropolis. The Lurie Garden is an exception to that rule; a wonderful peaceful spot in this big city. Thanks so much to all of you at Millennium Park for giving me the great opportunity to show my work.

     To learn more, visit:     www.millenniumpark.org

Famous Chicago 2005
not in any order of any sort, except for the first three being alphabetical by last name.

Louie Armstrong - jazz great
Dick Butkus - bad actor
Al Capone - philanthropist
Blues Brothers - philanthropists
Muddy Waters - blues great
Koko Taylor - blues goddess
Hugh Hefner - publisher
Mike Royko - journalist
William Siannis - restraunteur/goat owner
Stan Mikita - hockey legend
Scottie Pippen - darn good basketballer
John Malkovich - darn good actor
Studs Turkel - legend extraordinaire
Cloudgate - sculpture
Billy Corgan - bandleader/bald guy
Frank Lloyd Wright - architect
Joe Mantegna - darn good actor
Shoeless Joe Jackson - cheater
American Gothic - in the Art Institute
Richard J Daley - former white mayor
Harold Washington - former black mayor
Jane Byrne - former female mayor
Victor Skrebneski - hellava photographer
George Halas - miser/genius/legend
Bob Newhart - psychiatrist, etc.
Carlton Fisk - best catcher ever
Harry Caray - beer spokesman
Joseph Cardinal Bernadin - preacher
Gene Siskel - nice film critic
Roger Ebert - mean film critic
Nat "King" Cole - great singer
John Cusack - darn good actor
Ozzie Guillen - loud mouth
Mike Ditka - da coach
Walter Payton - football great
Bill Murray - golf legend, actor
Earnest Hemingway - outdoorsman
Ronald McDonald - darn good clown
Michael Jordan - overrated golfer
Saul Bellow - Nobel Prize winner
Oprah Winfrey - kingmaker
Jerry Springer - trash collector
The Chicago River - civic treasure
Pumpkin-Go-Round - absurd idea

Click on the montage above to enter the Famous Chicago Gallery Extravaganza

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