Community Corner

Elaine Place Giraffes Replaced, Public Art Added to Lake View

A new statue sits where the former iconic giraffes stood in Lake View, with other public art installations popping up all over Lake View.

A replacement statue was added to Elaine Place Wednesday morning, standing atop the cement base formerly occupied by the iconic chrome giraffe statues at Roscoe Street.

The blue, sweeping public art was erected as a part of the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit and is titled “A Night in Tusisia.” It’s one of nine other pieces installed in Lake View, and among the 24 others CSE plans to install around the North Side this summer.

The giraffe statues, which sat at Elaine and Roscoe since 1978, were removed in November after Chicago Apartment Finders purchased the set of properties from Chicago developer Milton Zale.

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Ald. Tom Tunney’s (44th) Director of Communications Erin Duffy says Tunney was working on getting the giraffe’s returned to their original locations, but when Zale had them appraised, the asking price was $45,000 per giraffe.

That’s where CSE came in, Tunney told WBEZ. The program was started by former 43rd Ward Alderman Vi Daley 12 years ago by using corporate sponsors to pay $3,500 to place sculptures in the neighborhood for a year.

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“Vi and I have known each other before I was Alderman and she’s been a big help in my first term and one of the things I liked most about her ward was her public art,” Tunney told WBEZ. “She clued me in on the program and how it’s really corporate sponsors, working with the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, bringing sculptures to the neighborhood.”

Chicago Apartment Finders, who were criticized for getting rid of the giraffe statues, paid to sponsor the replacement. 

Duffy later told Redeye Chicago she’s already received some feedback from neighbors, but it’s mostly been frustration that the giraffe and goat statues weren’t returned to their original locations. Tunney said he hopes to someday get the giraffe’s back.

Night in Tunisia was formerly located at the Skokie Northshore Sculpture Park where artist Ron Gard explained the meaning behind the large steel statue.

"Chicago based artist, Ron Gard, used the idea of unrequited or failed love as the theme for his sculpture," the park's website reads. "Within the piece there is a tension between its two forms, one 'attempting to break free, the other wanting to remain attached.'"

 


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