2003 - Columbus Park
In 2003, the Stockyard Institute, in collaboration with Michael Piazza, sought to explore the seldom-visited Columbus Park, located in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. The community's poverty and crime deterred residents from utilizing the park for recreation, as Austin residents felt unsafe and alienated. To address this, Duignan and Piazza “activated" the park, adorning it with sculptures, informative kiosks, orchestras, music festivals and performances, and other media.
Latin for “city in a garden,"
Urbs in Horto is the motto of Chicago. The choice to title the project with this moniker represents the city's vow to provide recreational opportunities to its citizens—and its failure to equitably fulfill this promise.
