Yoko Ono To Create Public Art Project On Wooded Island In Jackson Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Yoko Ono has announced plans to build her first permanent U.S. public art installation in Chicago, as part of the ongoing redevelopment of Jackson Park.
The work will be called Sky Landing, and Ono said it will bring a child's sense of hopefulness. She said she hopes visitors will feel a communal connection to earth and sky. So far, however, no details have been provided on how it will look.
Sky Landing will be installed on the two-acre Wooded Island in the center of the park, the former site of the Phoenix Pavilion, a gift from Japan built during the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.
"This is the kind of thing that would be a very short way to world's peace. This is a little detail … well, I don't want to say little detail. It's a big detail, but I really think it's going to be so beautiful," Ono said.
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At a ceremony on Wooded Island on Friday, Ono marveled at the history between Chicago and Japan, dating back to the building of the Phoenix Pavilion.
"There's an incredible, incredible, intense opening of the heart. It's almost like the intensity is almost insane," she said.
Ono chose the site for Sky Landing after visiting Jackson Park in 2013, when the Chicago Park District began planting 170 cherry blossom trees in the Garden of the Phoenix to celebrate the city's relationship with Japan.
Work on Sky Landing was scheduled to be completed in June 2016.
