From Where I Stand

The ILCA held its “Summer in the City” Design I have been blessed in my personal and professional travels Tour on July 16, 2022. This event was almost four years in the to visit 40 of the top 50 largest cities in the United States. None making with a big ‘ol pandemic slapped right in the middle of it. of them are as beautiful as Chicago. Some are larger, more picIt was originally scheduled for June of 2020, which meant plan- turesque, crazy-fun, or historic, but none offer the total package ning had to begin in early 2019. Our Design Committee had no that is Chicago. I lived in the Lakeview and Uptown neighboridea what the world and urban America were hoods for 12 years. My kids were born there. My about to experience over the next 36 months. father still lives in the South Loop. The city runs Design Tours looks deceptively simple to plan. deep in my blood, and when I hear the old girl After all, landscape professionals service thou- attacked, I feel the need to defend her. sands of sites a year. One would assume that I love big cities, especially Chicago because we just need to combine a bunch of those sites of their vibrancy and energy. Look, this isn’t together, tell people where to park, say a few Sesame Street. When I lived there, I didn’t walk words, and move on to the next one. In reality, down the street signing “Sunny Days” while allowing 100 people onto a functioning land- waving to the mailman and the grocer. Cities scape, often at private residences, to wander balance a fierce independence with a collective around, snap photos, and touch plant material is interdependence. It is freeing to simply put your not as welcoming as it sounds for many home- head down or slide in some earbuds and get lost owners. Our Design Committee does an incred- in the enormity of a big city. In that same breath, ible job selecting sites and getting the company the greatest experiences of a big city are when of record to walk the tour group through the we gather — the street festivals, parades, Cubs design, installation, and maintenance chal- and Sox games, beer gardens, museums, and, of lenges. course, parks and public gardens. You are sur-

We also hold these in the dead of summer, rounded by economic, cultural, and geographic when the plant material pops. Just keeping diversity. In short, a city is one big party and people hydrated and upright for eight hours is a everyone is invited. challenge. At the end of the day, our hope is that In the same breath, I am not Pollyanna. landscape professionals get to peer behind the Uptown had daytime crime, open air drug dealcurtain of a property and appreciate the art and ing, ambivalent police officers, feckless politiscience of a beautiful space. We cluster everyone cians, and gang violence. I have had police tape together so they share the experience communally. We could on my front door and encountered a bullet-ridden body in my easily toss a map of sites out to the ILCA members and tell them alley. At this point, I am sure many would ask, “Well, then how to stop by on their own time. Instead, our committee opts for a can you possibly defend Chicago and feel safe there!?!?” field trip style. Like everyone staring at a painting, all collec- That brings me back to the Design Tour. As we gathered the tively share their nuanced impressions of the work. landscapers, designers, garden stewards, and experts who would

When we made the decision to attempt an urban tour in 2019, serve as site docents, all had the same universal challenge — they we knew we were in for a challenge. Instead of pulling up in an needed to maintain gardens for the public that could also survive air-conditioned coach bus, we would ask 100 landscape profes- the public. The central challenge for public gardens is to create sionals to walk in one group to eight different public sites in respite and beauty for millions of site visitors while not succumbthe 4th largest city in North America. We had to embrace the ing to those who wish to do the gardens harm. These gardens, like complications posed by the general public, ambient noise, and the city where they thrive, have to be resilient. None of these site soaring temperatures. stewards is naive to think children won’t break branches, dogs

To overcome those complications we had to get creative. The won’t uproot plants, discarded food scraps won’t burn turf, and Design Committee fanned out and established one-on-one rela- vandals won’t sign their crimes. It is not possible, nor their job to tionships with the caretakers of these spaces. Education Manager stop damage. It is their job to overwhelm these occasional stains AnneMarie built a robust app with audio, video, interviews, with beauty, durability, and purpose. articles, and site photos to overcome the crowds and noise. We Now, you may be saying, “that’s a nice metaphor,” but a kid dragged a wagon filled with water bottles and fresh fruit to keep snapping a hawthorn branch is a lot different than getting stabbed. people from falling into the shrubs. Lastly, each attendee got a I respect the claustrophobia and anxiety that big cities present to knapsack of sponsored items like suntan lotion, granola bars, some. But, let’s be honest, that’s not the fault of a big city. Those sunglasses, a refillable water bottle, and more. are self-inflicted wounds. If some are waiting for the day where

The one challenge we did not anticipate were the fears and cities of eight million people no longer have crime and crowds, anxieties many have towards the City of Chicago. In my conver- you are going to be waiting a long time. It’s like waiting for a sations leading up to the tour, many people expressed concerned garden to eliminate its weeds and ignoring its beauty until it does. about doing a tour of public gardens in broad daylight. To hear The only way past a fear is through it, not dropping an iron curtain some concerns, you’d think Chicago was some post-apocalyptic between Chicago and its suburbs. hellscape being patrolled by Robocops. Perception, coupled with Chicago, like any big city, is its own wilderness. I didn’t grow the endless doom scrolling of news outlets, created the impres- up in a big city. I grew up in a suburb where I felt comfortable sion that Chicago is beyond repair. I told them to register, and and didn’t need to lock my car, house, or bike. Living in a big prepare to be amazed. city took some getting used to. The biggest takeaway from my

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time there is understanding how to gauge a threat. It is absolutely impossible to live in a big city and not experience daily experiences outside of your comfort zone.

In Uptown, I pushed my daughter in her stroller to buy milk and eggs from the Nigerian grocery that also sold wigs. I had to walk past several gang members who loitered outside the convenience store. I would get called “Governor” by the local homeless woman who called my wife “Beauty.” I’d wave to the firemen who sat in 1950s desk chairs outside the station and ironically smoked cigarettes. All this just becomes normal yet would be very unsettling to someone plucked from a different environment. Over time, you learn to trust your gut and appreciate the richness of what is happening around you. It is inevitable if you open yourself up to it.

We were so grateful 100+ landscape professionals did embrace the tour in light of 90-degree temperatures in the heart of the busy season. Those who participated were able to visit Lakeshore East Park, a hidden gem designed like a sailboat that has created a new standard for maintenance and park stewardship for city residents. Following that, John Alexander and Daniel Gerdes of Christy Webber Landscapes walked us through Maggie Daley’s curving park purposefully designed to get you a little lost. The next stop was the world famous Lurie Garden where Kathryn Deery allowed us to walk beneath the famous shrub wall – the visuals were something out of a fairy tale.

Patrick Thomas greeted us at the Art Institute where we learned about how each garden space unifies art, purpose, and nature. At the Dan Kiley garden, Joe Karr, who is in his 80s stood atop a granite bench and transported us back to 1964 as he discussed how the famous fountains and hawthorn trees came to exist. We headed east and met the North end of Buckingham Fountain and the famous rose garden. We doubled-back and learned the history of the Roy Diblik garden and why the arch faces south, not north. We ended up at Millennium Park where Austin Eischeid and former Director Scott Stewart (flown up from Texas) finished our day explaining how a new motif of plant material has used nature, not rails and fences to control crowds and behavior.

Yes, it was as exhausting as it sounds.

At the last stop, we were gathered around Austin. His passion for plants and the diverse, daring spaces he creates shine in his every syllable. A small group of fashionable high schoolers stepped through our tour group and paused for a second to find out what the hubbub was about. After a few seconds, the leader of the group, a pretty girl wearing an outfit my daughter will discover on Tik Tok in a few months rolled her eyes and said disdainfully, “They are talking about plants or something.”

I smiled. Little did she know, those “plants (or something)” were the reason her and her friends decided to spend their summer afternoon in that park. The harmony those spaces create between living plants and living people continues to transform Chicago’s lakefront over 100 years after the Columbian Exposition. Landscapes have always united plants and people. If we only stop to focus on the weeds, we will always lose sight of the greater garden.

Sincerely,

Scott Grams, Executive Director June 21, 2022