I checked my P.O. box yesterday and now I have a total of 365 Chicago postcards! For those of you who aren’t familiar: In 2008 in New York and since 2012 in Chicago, I’ve been leaving thousands of handmade, pre-stamped, self-addressed postcards all over the city, each with the prompt “Tell me one thing you dream of doing before you die. Use this card as your canvas,” as well as a different code on the corner.
I record where I leave each one, so when a card returns to me, I match up the code with the location and am able to tell where each card was found. I created a map of Manhattan that way, almost 10 years ago, and am gradually piecing together one of my home city, Chicago.
It’s a labor of love and a love letter made of many love letters.
And since February (when a portion of these postcards were selected by the City to be exhibited at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of their Year of Public Art initiative), I’ve been sharing 1 Chicago dream a day, every day, at @dreamsofacity on Instagram. So this means I’ll have been posting these dreams for at least a year once I’m done. Follow along! (And to those who have already been following, thank you so much!)
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| I love my city so much. Wandered into an Art Deco building, snuck to a top floor, went into a stairwell, and saw this, shhh. |
(The most recent response to all this? “Keep making the world a more magical place!” Thank you, Destry!)
On Thursday I attended an event called The Makery Experience in a secret garden in Pilsen. It was a celebration of artisans and craftspeople and also confirmation that I’m a time traveler (see below). Thanks for inviting me, Prisoner Wine Co.!
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| Tintypes of me and Adrienne Glover (one of the artists in LEXICON) by Jen Jansen Photography. |
Local stuff for you to check out:
- My mentor and dear friend Robin Rios opened an Etsy shop!
- Apparently you can get free [Chicago style, of course] hot dogs this week at these locations. (I serendipitously scored a free one on National Hot Dog Day at one of my favorite carts by agreeing to add ketchup to mine. I actually hesitated because it felt so wrong.)
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| At Kim & Carlo's Hot Dog Stand, Museum Campus. |
And as for my dreams? A couple weeks ago I got called a Renaissance Woman. One has now come true.
