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Pollinator Solace Columns

Emily Moorhead-Wallace + J Taylor Wallace

About Pollinator Solace Columns

The “Pollinator Solace Columns” project is a community-sourced public artwork that functions as a habitat and resource for insects and animals. The artists’ inspiration for this project is driven by the need to support their garden pollinators and those of their neighbors. They believe everyone has a right to clean green spaces which pollinators help create.

Recognizing how urbanization has hurt critical wildlife and damaged resident’s health by doing so, this project creates a positive solution to this habitat destruction. Specifically the artists address concerns for the decimation of critical insects due to man-made hazards like pollution, rerouting of waterways, and over paved cities. With a partner collective the artists built an ecosystem that attempts to lessen the impact of these issues.

Neighborhood: Back of the Yards

Art Type: Sculpture

Grant Amount: $45,750

Media Gallery

Click on each image to enlarge and to see the photo caption.

About the Artists

Emily Moorhead-Wallace is an art and artist advocate with a bachelor’s and master’s in fine arts. Her artwork is exhibited nationally, including public art pieces in Chicago, Illinois and Cincinnati, Ohio. Her current projects are environmental sculptures supporting native habitats and science education. Emily has donated her time to various community arts organizations focusing on engagement through fourteen years of non-profit experience.

J Taylor Wallace is a 3D mixed media artist with a BFA from The University of Tennessee and MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. J Taylor’s public artworks have been on display in Tennessee and Illinois. He is the owner of Metal Magic Interiors Inc., a metal design and fabrication studio, with over ten years of experience providing durable, quality, handmade products.

Community Partners

A significant focus of this project was community involvement in planning the design, processing natural materials, and building the nesting cavities. Community design and production workshops were hosted with partner organizations: Hermitage Street Community Gardens, Star Farms Chicago, and Sherman Park Library. Artists and educational partners worked together to provide free hands-on ecological advocacy activities.

Additionally, this project was constructed from neighborhood collaborations. Metal Magic Interiors fabricated the steel design. D. Wexler & Sons Steel Warehouse provided materials and processing support. The Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council helped source and manage a studio apprentice through the One Summer Chicago employment program. Furthermore, the Keller Science Action Center of the Field Museum identified and sourced flora for the native pollinator garden surrounding the sculptures.

Special support and consideration was given by the Sherman Park staff, Chicago Park District Department of Cultural & Natural Resources, and the City of Chicago Bureau of Forestry.