Purchase MacNeil Medallion On eBay
By · CommentsCLICK HERE to purchase a MacNeil Medallion of the Standing Liberty Quarter on eBay photos → →
Why the Chicago Monument Project? ~~ FAQ
By · CommentsFrequently Asked Questions 
Why is Chicago doing this?
Chicago joins cities across the country reckoning with the omissions and over-simplifications present in their public art collections. The Chicago Monuments Project intends to grapple with the often unacknowledged – or forgotten – history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections and provides a vehicle for a public dialogue that will elevate new ways to memorialize Chicago’s history more equitably and accurately.
Are all of these monuments going to be removed?
No, this is not a condemnation of these monuments, but rather this is an opportunity to learn from them. We invite Chicagoans to provide valuable feedback, reflecting on the city’s history and how it should be encapsulated in our public art moving forward.
STAY TUNED HERE: We will post results as soon as they are announced this Summer!
Related posts:
- Marquette Statue in Chicago (9) Today we took a short trip south from our daughter’s…
- More Marquette Statue Photos (9) Our Photo journey to this statue produced more pictures than…
- Searching for Uncle Hermon in Chicago ~ “The Sun Vow” (cont.) (9) On a cold December day we took the CTA Blue…
- “Chicago Sculpture in the Loop” features Hermon A. MacNeil’s Work at Marquette Building (8) Gregory H. Jenkins has posted stories of the Marquette Bronze…
- Hermon MacNeil Sculpture in the Chicago Loop (8) Gregory H. Jenkins AIA, Chicago architect and keeper of the …
- “PRIMITIVE INDIAN MUSIC” ~ Part 3: 1894 Eda Lord’s Ticket to the Chicago World’s Fair (8) Eda Lord, (the woman who purchased the MacNeil bronze statue,…
Hooded Sweatshirts given to CPN Volunteers have this logo map of College Point on the backs. This year, 2022, marks the 20th year of CPNs service along the East River shore between the parks. For 50 years Hermon and Carol MacNeil’s home and studio was located above the “C” in “College Point.” Thanks for your “housekeeping”, CPN Volunteers.
Coastal Preservation Network (CPN)
Kathryn Cervino reports that College Point volunteers have been cleaning, planting, and beautifying Hermon MacNeil Park since 2002.
“Uncle Hermon” would be Sooo… proud.
The MacNeil Medallion marks the 150th Anniversary of his birth. Available on eBay.
They periodically scour the shore line of the East River in between MacNeil Park and Powell’s Cove Park, raking, planting, collecting trash, plastic, and any debris that threaten the life, beauty, and enjoyment of College Pointers along this public shoreline of the River.
To honor the work of CPN Volunteers, 25 MacNeil Medallions were given to Kathryn Cervino, president of CPN to distribute to her Volunteers at College Point.
1
A quartet of smiling College Point Volunteers show off their Hermon MacNeil souvenir Medallions during an afternoon of “polishing” the shoreline.
Kat Cervino (lt) with a proud CPN Volunteer show off their MacNeil Medallions in Hermon MacNeil Park.
CPN logo of 20 anniversary sweatshirts
Related posts:
- MacNeil Park ~ A Call for Sculpture Proposals. Thanks Kathryn Cervino! (4) oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo MacNeil Park: Portico to the East River 156 Candles…
- MacNeil Park – College Point, Queens, NY (2) Hermon A. MacNeil Park in College Point, Queens, offers 29-acre…
- Another “Chief of the Multnomah” Has Appeared in the East. (2) There is another “Chief of the Multnomah.” Today I received…
- MacNeil “Merry Christmas” (2) Christmas Greetings from the home of Hermon and Carol MacNeil. …
- Jo Davidson (cont.) in the MacNeil Atlier (2) Jo Davidson continues the narrative of his adventures working in…
- “Hermon and Jo” ~~ Story #1 ~~ For MacNeil Month ~ February 2021 ~~ (2) Jo Davidson started as a “studio boy” for…
All of Hermon MacNeil’s Lifeworks
enshrine the PAST.
SO… What is the Future of the Past?
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The Chicago Monuments Project
Throughout 2021 the Chicago Monuments Project has been pursuing its Mission. From over 500 public monuments in the City of Chicago, the Project has identified 41 for review related to the following issues:
- Promoting narratives of white supremacy
- Presenting inaccurate and/or demeaning characterizations of American Indians
- Memorializing individuals with connections to racist acts, slavery, and genocide
- Presenting selective, over-simplified, one-sided views of history
- Not sufficiently including other stories, in particular those of women, people of color, and themes of labor, migration, and community building
- Creating tension between people who see value in these artworks and those who do not [ Source: https://chicagomonuments.org/about ]
The PAST is under REVIEW
Hermon MacNeil’s
Marquette-Jolliet-Ilini Indian Memorial
is one of the 41 under review.
Webmaster, Dan Neil Leininger and Donna on their first visit to the Marquette – jolliet – Ilini monument at Marshall and Twenty-fourth Boulevard in Chicago.
A report of recommendations is expected to be released in
Summer of 2022
The Project created written introductions for each of the 41 pieces being reviewed. MacNeil’s Jacques Marquette-Louis Jolliet Memorial is introduced as follows:
Title: Jacques Marquette-Louis Jolliet Memorial
Date: 1926
Artist: Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947)
Location: Marshall and 24th Blvd
Context: As the first Europeans to explore and document the northern portion of the Mississippi, which included the river link from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi basin through what would become Chicago, French missionary Jacques Marquette and the Quebec-born cartographer Louis Jolliet, along with their Indian guides, are ubiquitous figures in the modern iconography of the founding of Chicago.
This imposing representation of Marquette and Jolliet, with a subservient American Indian at their side, was created by Hermon Atkins McNeil, the academically trained sculptor who contributed the relief sculptures of Marquette’s life to the extraordinary decorative cycle at the Marquette Building in thirty years earlier, in 1895.
Other representations of Marquette include the commemorative plaques near the site of the Damen Avenue Bridge (1930) and at the DuSable Bridge (1925), as well as on the northeast DuSable Bridge pylon (1928).
Source: Chicago Monuments Project (https://chicagomonuments.org/monuments/jacques-marquette-louis-jolliet-memorial) retrieved March 28, 2022
“Statues of Limitations:
MacNeil’s depiction of Marquette has the priest with an inviting open right hand as his left hand holds out a crucifix above his heart. Their (Ilini) Indian guide looks on in seeming fascination.
MacNeil’s Marquette-Jolliet-Illini Memorial
“Whether they’re made
of bronze or marble,
apparently not all of Chicago’s monuments
are set in stone.”
We eagerly await the Chicago Monument Project
report scheduled to be released Summer of 2022.
Recently, I procured a plaster casting by
Hermon
Atkins
MacNeil
The work was a very early study dating back to the 1890’s.
The image re-appears as part of a larger sculpture entitled
‘Mother and
Papoose’
A bronze casting of that later work was listed by
J. N. BARTFIELD GALLERIES1
They state that:
According to the Roman Bronze Works ledger, Only two casts of Mother and Papoose were ever done, both—#1 and #2 on the same day: November 9, 1906. No other casts are known. (Source: https://www.bartfield.com/ retrieved on 1-25-22)
This detail of the bronze ‘Mother & Papoose’ shows the similarity of the plaster model of 1894 and the bronze casting of 1906.
Of the Papoose model, MacNeil scholar and College Point author, James Haas, wrote the following:
“In the summer of 1895 [when MacNeil traveled in the Four Corners area] he modeled two dozen Indian-themed pieces. His subjects were Utes, Navajo, Acoma and Moqui Indians from which sprang his most famous work, Moqui Prayer for Rain.” Mother and Papoose appears to have been modeled by MacNeil while he was on this trip.
1892 0r 1894
Whether the Papoose plaster was made in 1892 or 1894 is in disagreement. James Haas suggests the later date.
The Papoose is dated in Roman Numerals. At first glance they could be read as:
MDCCCXCII
But there is an additional “I” at the end of the hand engraved date on the crown of the papoose. It could appear to be the other side of a letter ‘V’ which would offer an alternative reading of the Roman Numeral date as:
MDCCCXCIV
which changes the last digit to reads out as a 4 (IV) rather than a 2 (II).
The ‘1894’ reading of the date fits better into the known timeline of MacNeil’s life after the ending of the Chicago Worlds Fair — Worlds Columbian Exposition in 1893.
1892 Papoose by Hermon Atkins MacNeil
J. N. BARTFIELD GALLERIES 1
AMERICAN, WESTERN & SPORTING ART
Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866-1947)
According to the Roman Bronze Works ledger, Only two casts of Mother and Papoose were ever done, both—#1 and #2 on the same day: November 9, 1906. No other casts are known. Of the model, MacNeil scholar, James Haas, wrote the following, “In the summer of 1895 [when MacNeil traveled in the Four Corners area] he modeled two dozen Indian-themed pieces. His subjects were Utes, Navajo, Acoma and Moqui Indians from which sprang his most famous work, Moqui Prayer for Rain.” Mother and Papoose appears to have been modeled by MacNeil while he was on this trip. A Massachusetts native, Hermon Atkins MacNeil studied in Boston, New York, and Paris before being asked to work on the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1891. While there, MacNeil saw Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and was inspired to take his classical training to the American West. MacNeil’s bronzes of Native Americans, perhaps more than those of any other sculptor, portray majesty while preserving the individuality of the subject. The spirituality Macneil’s First Americans convey is expressed through lightness and solidity rather than other worldliness.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil
Mother and Papoose
Roman Bronze Works N.Y.
Cast N.1
16 1/2 inches high
Sources:
- J. N. BARTFIELD GALLERIES: AMERICAN, WESTERN & SPORTING ART. Retrieved from https://www.bartfield.com/ [On 1-25-22]
Related posts:
- Hermon MacNeil at the 1893 Columbian Exposition ~ ~ ~ THE CHICAGO YEARS ~ ~ (3) CHICAGO YEARS: Partners and Colleagues When Hermon MacNeil came home to the…
- 123 Year old Bas Relief of “Black Pipe The Sioux at Six Teen Years” has been reported to www.HermonAtkinsMacNeil.com (3) BLACK PIPE in 14 stories A never before seen or documented…
- MacNeil-Brooks Wedding Reception – Christmas Day 1895 (3) One Hundred and twenty-three years (123) ago, Hermon Atkins MacNeil…
- Charles Francis Browne … MacNeil … Garland ~ Part Two (3) A recent post of Aug 13, 2021, highlighted a hidden…
- “Chicago Sculpture in the Loop” features Hermon A. MacNeil’s Work at Marquette Building (2) Gregory H. Jenkins has posted stories of the Marquette Bronze…
- ~ ~ ~ “The Most Happy Young Man I Know” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Hermon A. MacNeil ~ Success & Marriage! (2) 1895 Hermon Atkins MacNeil, American Sculptor (1866-1947) MacNeil’s bronze of…
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
MacNeil Park: Portico to the East River
156 Candles
On the 156th anniversary of Hermon MacNeil’s Birth
February 27, 2022
updated April 7, 2022
by the ‘Revised Call for Proposals’
(changes high-lighted in yellow)
Kathryn Cervino of College Point has been an activist and advocate for
Hermon A. MacNeil Park for 20 years.
[CLICK HERE for History of MacNeil Park as posted in 2010]
Children and adults planting sea grass and restoring vitality and beauty to the East River shoreline along MacNeil Park (2010). Source: CPN at https://www.coastalpreservation.org/
Kat Cervino
Kathryn Cervino’s organization, the Coastal Preservation Network has created systematic events and programs for the cleaning, preserving and keeping of this historic shoreline along the East River. Teaching and advocating value and heritage of this historic piece of coastal NYC has been a passion that Kat Cervino has lived out and rooted in the neighborhood citizens of College Point.
Bottles, debris, plastic trash have plagued the shoreline of MacNeil Park. Here teams of volunteers restore a beauty and pride in their neighborhood that has transformed this patch is river coastline. Source: CPN at https://www.coastalpreservation.org/
The 2022 project has secured a Grant to create a:
Site-specific SCULPTURE
of recycled plastic the artist choice of materials
and designed by a
a New York City or Massachusetts based artist.
A location in the center of Hermon A. MacNeil Park has been chosen as the site for this artwork to further beautify College Point and heighten enjoyment of the neighborhood.
Below is Page One of the newly Revised Call for Proposals. (Revisions are highlighted in YELLOW -April 6, 2022). For complete Eligibility, Timeline, Application, Awarding, and Background GO TO:
Coastal Preservation Network website HERE
Coastal Preservation Network
Public Art Grant 2022
Introduction (page one)
Being launched this year for Coastal Preservation Network’s 20 th anniversary, the Coastal
Preservation Network Public Art Grant supports the creation of a site–specific sculpture by a
New York– or Massachusetts–based artist for a designated hilltop location within Hermon A.
MacNeil Park in College Point, Queens. This waterfront park is named after a renowned
American sculptor Hermon Atkins MacNeil (1866–1947). This grant will help transform the park
into an art destination in his honor. Funded by CPN, the grantee will receive an award of
$1,000.00 toward creation of their proposed artwork.
Previously known as Chisholm’s Park and College Point Shore Front Park, the 28–acre parcel
on the East River was renamed in 1966 on the 100th anniversary of sculptor MacNeil’s birth.
Mayor John Lindsay signed his first local law to rename the park for MacNeil, whose home and
art studio were adjacent to the park. Proposed sculpture can be constructed using the artist’s
choice of materials and should depict a theme of nature. Examples include but are not limited
to: wildlife found in the park (squirrels, seagulls); marine life found in the adjacent East River
and/or Flushing Bay water bodies (fish, horseshoe crabs, oysters); the water itself.Location
The installation will be sited on the highest hill in MacNeil Park, in the park’s center, on the
paved area next to the flagpole. This location offers sweeping vistas of the East River to the
North and Flushing Bay to the west. The flagpole marks the former spot of the Chisholm family
mansion, which Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia used as his summer residence in 1937. Under the
direction of Robert Moses, the mansion was razed between 1939 and 1941 to create a public
park. Artists are strongly encouraged to visit MacNeil Park before submitting a proposal.
More information on sculptor MacNeil can be found on the Hermon A. MacNeil blog at
https://hermonatkinsmacneil.com/. More information on MacNeil Park can be found on the NYC
Parks website at https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/macneil–park and on the Coastal
Preservation Network website at https://www.coastalpreservation.org/?page_id=45.Timeline
April 5, 2022: Call for proposals
May 17, 2022: Proposal deadline
June 4, 2022: Award recipient announced
Fall 2022: Artwork installed in parkEligibility
This award is open to artists in New York and Massachusetts. MacNeil was born and educated
in Massachusetts. He worked/lived in College Point, Queens, and during his career taught at
Cornell University in Ithaca, The Art Students League of New York in Manhattan and Pratt
Institute in Brooklyn.
Artists who are eligible will have specialized training in their field (not necessarily gained in an
academic institution), who are at an early or mid–stage in their career, and who have created a
modest independent body of work. Proposals for previously exhibited sculptures will not be
accepted.
CLICK HERE to go to 5 PAGE PROPOSAL at CPN site.
Source credits: All photos retrieved from CPN
Photo Credits
SOURCE: All Photos property of Coastal Preservation Network [retrieved from https://www.coastalpreservation.org/ on February 27, 2022]
Related posts:
- MacNeil Park – College Point, Queens, NY (3) Hermon A. MacNeil Park in College Point, Queens, offers 29-acre…
- MacNeil “Merry Christmas” (2) Christmas Greetings from the home of Hermon and Carol MacNeil….
- Jo Davidson (cont.) in the MacNeil Atlier (2) Jo Davidson continues the narrative of his adventures working in…
- “Hermon and Jo” ~~ Story #1 ~~ For MacNeil Month ~ February 2021 ~~ (2) Jo Davidson started as a “studio boy” for…
Hermon & Carol MacNeil, Carol’s sister Alice & husband, Wilbur Maher visited in 1904. (Site was the old side steps off of Northern Boulevard at the MacNeil Home in College Point, Queens, New York City) (Photo courtesy of Joel Rosenkranz, NYC)
