Neighborhood News: From Protests to Farmer’s Markets, the Loop’s Daley Center Plaza is the Town Square of Chicago
“The center’s plaza…puts a modernist spin on the courthouse’s traditional role as the center of the town square”
Blair Kamin, Former Architecture Critic, Chicago Tribune
Walk downtown any day of the week on Washington Street between Clark and Dearborn Streets, and you’ll find a bustling center alive with activity… commuters rushing to their jobs, buskers creating a rhythmic beat, and in the middle of it all is Daley Center Plaza, 50 W. Washington Street, the courtyard adjacent to the Richard J. Daley Center, occupying the southern half of the block.
It’s also been the center of democracy for Chicago, a well-known spot since the beginning for public gatherings and public discourse, including a number of significant protests over the years, including ICE occupation, reproductive and immigrant rights.
Meet Me at “The Picasso!”
Daley Center Plaza’s most distinctive feature is a 50-foot landmark best known as “The Picasso,” the first monumental abstract public artwork in Downtown Chicago. According to Wikipedia sources, architect Richard Bennett wrote Picasso a poem asking him to make the sculpture. Picasso accepted, saying “You know I never accept commissions to do any sort of work, but in this case I am involved in projects for the two great gangster cities” (the other being Marseille, France).
Before the Picasso sculpture, public sculptural artwork in Chicago consisted primarily of historical figures. The sculpture was commissioned in 1963 by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), one of the architectural firms that designed the plaza and the Chicago Civic Center (now known as the Richard J. Daley Center), as a companion to the modernist government office building.
Picasso completed the sculpture in 1967, as a gift to the City of Chicago. Though controversial for its abstract form, it quickly became a Chicago landmark.
Picasso told neuropsychological researcher and writer Stanley Coren that the head of the sculpture is an abstract representation of his Afghan Hound named Kabul, according to Wikipedia sources.
The Picasso was the site of an August 23, 1968, press conference in which Yippies Jerry Rubin, Phil Ochs, and others were arrested after nominating a pig — Pigasus — for president of the United States. This event was held days before the opening of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which became known for its anti-Vietnam war protests.
The Fountain
Another distinctive feature of Daley Center Plaza is the in-ground fountain and eternal flame memorial to the dead from World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Each day, according to several sources, it serves more than 10,000 people taking lunch breaks by the fountain.
During holidays such as St. Patrick’s Day, the fountain is dyed in various colors in celebration (green, of course, for St. Patrick’s Day). It was dyed team red in honor of the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup run in 2010.
The Farmer’s Market
The plaza serves as a location for many civic functions including the city’s longest running Weekly Farmers’ Market, held on Thursdays from May through October, regular ethnic festivals, and Christkindlmarket, a outdoor German market, in the winter.
Noontime Events
Every weekday from 12pm-1pm, Richard J. Daley Center offers free cultural programming, including singing, dancing, flag raisings, cultural ceremonies, and much more.
In The Movies
Daley Center Plaza was used extensively in the climactic scenes of the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. The interior of the building, as well as the plaza, the Picasso, and the neighboring James R. Thompson Center are also featured in the 1993 film The Fugitive and in 2006’s The Lake House. The plaza also was used in 2006’s Stranger than Fiction.
Upcoming: Christkindelmarket Returns!
From November 21-December 24, Daley Center Plaza becomes a European Street Market with the return of Christkindlmarket for the 28th year. Open Sunday through Thursday from 11am – 8pm, and Friday through Saturday, from 11am – 9pm, visitors are treated to a shopping experience complete with the fragrance of roasted nuts, fresh pretzels, bratwurst and hot spiced wine, the sound of festive music, and the glimmer of sparkling Christmas ornaments, all in a cozy atmosphere – a visit to the market takes all your senses on a journey!
Visitors can explore vendor products from around the world, participate in special events, and enjoy the unique shopping experience!
Alison Moran-Powers and Dean’s Team Chicago
