The city that launched America’s Cows on Parade plays host to Statue Stories Chicago, an extraordinary new public art intervention. Statue Stories Chicago is an innovative, free city-wide arts project that gives voice to some of Chicago’s most important statues and sculptures. From Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln Park to the lions guarding the Art Institute of Chicago, from the eloquent Paul Lawrence Dunbar to the giant Picasso, each has a story to tell. Collectively, they tell Chicago’s story.
To hear the statues speak, swipe your smartphone on a nearby sign and get a “call back” from the statue. Some experiences are historic, others comic and others fictional. Ultimately, Statue Stories Chicago aims to persuade people to look at Chicago’s public artworks with new eyes. And ears! Using drama, humor and location technology, Statue Stories Chicago breathes new life into the city’s marvelous public art collection. The statues will talk for a year starting in August 2015. There is no cost to talk to the statues. Only network charges apply.
Competition: Some statues still await the gift of speech! By the Field Museum, there’s a brachiosaurus waiting to speak for himself…or is it herself? Inside the famous Fountain of the Great Lakes is Lake Ontario, a maiden with a tale to tell. And there’s a bronze cow left behind from the Cow Parade. Surely she has more to say than moo!
Write a short monologue – up to 350 words – and tell everyone what’s on their minds. The winning pieces will be recorded by members of the prestigious Goodman Theatre…and included as part of Statue Stories Chicago. The competition statues will speak in time for Easter 2016. The public writing competition is overseen in partnership with The Goodman Theatre.
To help you prepare your monologue, the folks at the Goodman Theatre will be running a series of free one-hour monologue writing workshops through to September. This series of workshops around Chicago with some of the city’s most exciting playwrights. Ike Holter (Exit Strategy) and Mickle Maher (Song About Himself) will share insights and experiences while helping participants sharpen their writing skills. Workshops will be held on the August 22 and on September 12, from 11 a.m. – noon. Reservations are not required, but recommended.
Monologues must be 350 words or less and speak in first-person, from the statue’s perspective. The winning selections will be voiced and recorded by professional actors cast by the Goodman. Winning authors may attend the recording session, and shall receive their own personal copy of the recording. Recordings of the winning monologues will be included in Statue Stories Chicago and accessible by the public from March 2016-August 2016. Writers submitting monologues for the competition must also submit the following information with their monologue: name, address, e-mail and/or telephone. Failure to include this information can disqualify the monologue from consideration. Submit entries to [email protected] by 11:59pm on Wednesday, September 30, 2015.
Produced by Sing London and supported by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Statue Stories Chicago animates 30 of Chicago’s most memorable statues with monologues and performances from some of the city’s most respected artists. Statue Stories Chicago has been developed in collaboration with the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District.
