“Monument with Standing Beast”, the sculpture out in front of the Thompson Center downtown, has always had a special place in my heart, even though stark white is a terrible color for a sculpture in Chicago—it’s often a little grimy around the edges. And when I pulled into my parking spot at work today, I realized perhaps where some of that affection comes from. Others might think it represents a tree or a standing animal, but I know it’s a lovely interpretation of the snow sculptures that accumulate at the edges of parking lots and sidewalks, once pristine snow edged with the black of Chicago asphalt.

All this reminds me of one of my favorite pieces of art in the city: Snow Sculpture for Chicago. (A funny postscript to that photo in that blog post is that eight years later I ended up working with Martha at Time Out Chicago. Chicago is such a small town.)