Unmasked

In late March, I completed a set of rainbow sleeves on bike racks behind the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington branch. This is the main downtown branch, and I'm there several times a week picking up and dropping off. The library's closure during the pandemic has been one of the toughest things about the spring for me.

On Plymouth behind the Harold Washington Library

The library staff were coming back into the building in early May to start prepping to reopen, and the property manager noticed my installation and posted in the Hello South Loop page to ask who was responsible (in a good way!). 

Someone figured it out because I had made my post about the sleeves public at the request of a friend, so I was unmasked and everyone kind of freaked out (again, in a good way). There was even an article!

As a result, I got to meet the other yarn bomber in my area, who works for the city and keeps a low profile. She helped others coordinate this fun tree, which I added the sunflowers to recently:

Tree in Dearborn Park

I also finished the tree flower doily at Polk & Dearborn in front of Totto's Market. I don't think I would have finished it except for the pandemic occurring - I actually kind of hated working on this one, but it turned out cute.

Flower tree doily at Polk & Dearborn

It has overwhelmingly been a positive thing to have been unmasked in my neighborhood. People now stop me to say hi while I install projects, and we chat about the art. I used to install pre-dawn so that I wouldn't be caught, fined, or yelled at. I was wrong - people love it, and it has been a bright spot for locals, especially children, during this time of isolation and pandemic.

I love you, South Loop!