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The 37th Ward is developing new art projects on Chicago Avenue and at other major intersections under a $1 million citywide initiative that will install public artwork in each of the 50 wards. “Cities that are culturally alive and thriving are the cities that are succeeding,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said last month when he announced 34 individuals and groups selected by 36 aldermen for the 50x50 Neighborhood Arts Project.
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Austin schools are taking a big financial hit in CPS’ new budget, along with many other South and West side schools, worrying community activists, residents and the teachers union. According to the school-by-school budget just released, 15 out of 19 Austin neighborhood schools will see funding cuts.
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The West Side's Safer Foundation is receiving a $4.5 million federal grant to help formerly incarcerated individuals find work. In all, the U.S. Department of Labor awarded about $73 million to 32 nonprofits nationwide, including to North Lawndale-based Safer Foundation.
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The West Side Historical Preservation Society is looking for a permanent museum home in Austin. The organization is raising funds for the project as it looks to acquire a sprawling vacant parcel on Madison Street just west of Cicero Avenue, said its CEO, Rickie Brown.
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West Side residents, activists and elected officials rallied at a local church Wednesday evening, exchanging safety tips and discussing ways to curb gun in a neighborhood that once was the most populated in the city. “Austin is no longer the largest neighborhood in the city of Chicago,” Commissioner Richard R. Boykin told about 40 people who attended the “state of emergency” meeting Wednesday at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, 116 S. Central Ave.
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Longtime West Side resident Arnold Julien heard “the most touching and horrific” thing a few months ago when a 6-year-old approached him during a dinner conversation he was moderating at the Austin Library. “He came up from the other side of the room and said, 'Can you save me?'” Julien says about the On The Table event sponsored by The Chicago Community Trust.
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Seven Austin businesses have been awarded grants under a new city program designed to help businesses on the West and South sides. In all, 51 businesses citywide are receiving $5 million in Retail Thrive Zone business improvement grants.
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More than 20 poets and musicians from the West Side and Downtown Chicago are expected to gather in Austin Saturday night to share their best works in celebration of 15 years of Poetry on the Patio. “It’s a beautiful, peaceful and serene environment to showcase some really good talents,” said Markell Mooney, also known as Kell-O-G.
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Austin farm co-owner Carolyn Ioder has her own philosophy when it comes to goats and what they can bring to the community – fresh dairies for sure, but also new perceptions of the neighborhood and better integration on the West Side. “Goats are useful for four things: milk, meat, mulching and memories,” said Ioder, who was collecting maple leaves to feed a dozen baby goats as they wandered among about 15 people doing yoga on a recent Sunday morning at GlennArt Pasture in the 400 block of North Waller Avenue.
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Every summer since 1980, Austin native Tyrone Wideman has celebrated his summer birthday with his family at the Taste of Chicago. “I took my son in a stroller,” Wideman said about attending the very first Taste of Chicago with his then-1-year-old baby.
