So here I am running all around Illinois with my DINNER AT JANE’S roadshow, & meanwhile Mary Jane Jacob, one of the people most responsible for making it all possible, works about five minutes from me in an office at the School of the Art Institute! She hands me a copy of her book CULTURE IN ACTION & she points to the first chapter (Full Circle: Suzanne Lacy & A Coalition of Chicago Women), & there’s the whole background of the project, & a list of all the participants at the dinner, & fabulous quotes from Suzanne, as well as highly-informative text of her own. She gave me a copy of the book, & I responded by giving her a swan pin & a WITASWAN brochure.
I’ve updated the DINNER AT JANE’S flyer with some information culled from the book. I’ve also found some great links with current news about Suzanne Lacy. But all this just scratches the surface! According to Mary Jane, the famous rocks created for the original project are all in storage, as are items created for the Jane Addams Sculpture Garden. But in the year plus I’ve been working on the Jane Addams Day project, this was the first time anyone had said word one to me about a Jane Addams Sculpture Garden!!! Who knew?!?! AND THAT’S THE POINT!!!
So here’s one definite goal for the next Jane Addams Day in 2008: let’s get the elements of the Jane Addams Sculpture Garden out of storage! This is work by an important artist about an important woman, & the people of Chicago deserve access to it. After all, according to Mary Jane, we paid for it all over a decade ago.
