Cars-on-a-stick LbNA #733 (ARCHIVED)
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Add Location| Owner: | Adoptable |
|---|---|
| Plant date: | Apr 24, 2003 |
| Location: | |
| City: | Berwyn |
| County: | Cook |
| State: | Illinois |
| Boxes: | 1 |
| Planted by: | yooperann  |
|---|---|
| Found by: | Martini Man |
| Last found: | Nov 29, 2003 |
| Status: | FFFFFFF |
| Last edited: | Apr 24, 2003 |
MISSING JUNE 04. Will remove this note when replaced. Sorry.
Other nearby letterboxes: Chicago Portage, Architectural Mystery Easy, great for families. But watch for cars.
This is a film canister microbox. You must bring your own pen and stamp pad.
Placed for the third time April 13, 2003, by yooperann
(wfisher47@comcast.net)
This would be the most ordinary of dingy strip malls, were it not for its owner, an art patron named David Bermant. Instead, thanks to Bermant's passion for public art, the mall has more than twenty pieces of sculpture towering over the parking lots and lining the sidewalk in front of the stores. Many of them move–some almost imperceptibly, some with the push of a button, others with every breeze. For a complete list of the art, and the controversies that have sometimes surrounded it, see
http://www.enteract.com/~jdeubel/plaza/
Undoubtedly, the best-known piece of art in the Cermak Plaza, thanks both to its size and its cameo role in the movie "Wayne's World," is an 80 foot tall spike that appears to have been pushed through a stack of eight cars in various stages of disintegration. The sculpture is officially named "Spindle" but at our house we've always just called it "Cars-on-a-stick." This letterbox is placed in honor of this quirky piece of public art and in the hopes that you'll stop awhile and appreciate this too often neglected collection.
Directions:
The Cermak Plaza is located at the southeast corner of the
intersection of Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road in Berwyn, Illinois, about eight miles from downtown Chicago. Both the Eisenhower expressway (I-290) and the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) have Harlem Avenue exits (the mall is about two miles south of the Eisenhower and about four miles north of the Stevenson). The mall can also be reached by public transportation.
Once you've located the mall, start your search at the base of the Cars-on-a-stick. Note and remember the artist's name–you'll need it later. Now look toward the horizon, facing the same direction as the spindled car with the license plate KPA 807. As you scan the horizon to your left you'll see a water tower, and then just below and to the left of the water tower, you'll see a moving sculpture that just sticks above a small square building. That sculpture is called "Bee Tree" by artist George Rhoads.
You're going to go over by Bee Tree, and you can make a bee
line to it. Starting from in front of Bee Tree, go around the square building until you find another sculpture by the same artist who did the cars-on-a-stick. As you read the sign, notice that you are in an extremely public spot. Think of how very foolish it would be to put a letterbox in the rear wheel well of that sculpture. Someone would surely take it. So anticipate that the replacement box would be in a much less public place. Walk east along the sidewalk in front of the mall, admiring all the sculptures on your way. Continue past a store where you can put all your eggs in one basket and then past one where you can add a salami. Pass a bench and a bike rack. Oops, you're off the end of the sidewalk! Head back toward the cars-on-a-stick, circling the outside of a small clump of bushes. There's a rock at the northeastern corner of the clump that would be a good place to stop and tie your shoe. Facing the salami place as bend over to tie your shoe, reach into the bushes about 8" above the ground and find the film-canister microbox. With luck, it will be held to one of the branches with a loop of Velcro. BE VERY DISCREET FINDING AND REPLACING THE BOX!!
Other nearby letterboxes: Chicago Portage, Architectural Mystery Easy, great for families. But watch for cars.
This is a film canister microbox. You must bring your own pen and stamp pad.
Placed for the third time April 13, 2003, by yooperann
(wfisher47@comcast.net)
This would be the most ordinary of dingy strip malls, were it not for its owner, an art patron named David Bermant. Instead, thanks to Bermant's passion for public art, the mall has more than twenty pieces of sculpture towering over the parking lots and lining the sidewalk in front of the stores. Many of them move–some almost imperceptibly, some with the push of a button, others with every breeze. For a complete list of the art, and the controversies that have sometimes surrounded it, see
http://www.enteract.com/~jdeubel/plaza/
Undoubtedly, the best-known piece of art in the Cermak Plaza, thanks both to its size and its cameo role in the movie "Wayne's World," is an 80 foot tall spike that appears to have been pushed through a stack of eight cars in various stages of disintegration. The sculpture is officially named "Spindle" but at our house we've always just called it "Cars-on-a-stick." This letterbox is placed in honor of this quirky piece of public art and in the hopes that you'll stop awhile and appreciate this too often neglected collection.
Directions:
The Cermak Plaza is located at the southeast corner of the
intersection of Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road in Berwyn, Illinois, about eight miles from downtown Chicago. Both the Eisenhower expressway (I-290) and the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) have Harlem Avenue exits (the mall is about two miles south of the Eisenhower and about four miles north of the Stevenson). The mall can also be reached by public transportation.
Once you've located the mall, start your search at the base of the Cars-on-a-stick. Note and remember the artist's name–you'll need it later. Now look toward the horizon, facing the same direction as the spindled car with the license plate KPA 807. As you scan the horizon to your left you'll see a water tower, and then just below and to the left of the water tower, you'll see a moving sculpture that just sticks above a small square building. That sculpture is called "Bee Tree" by artist George Rhoads.
You're going to go over by Bee Tree, and you can make a bee
line to it. Starting from in front of Bee Tree, go around the square building until you find another sculpture by the same artist who did the cars-on-a-stick. As you read the sign, notice that you are in an extremely public spot. Think of how very foolish it would be to put a letterbox in the rear wheel well of that sculpture. Someone would surely take it. So anticipate that the replacement box would be in a much less public place. Walk east along the sidewalk in front of the mall, admiring all the sculptures on your way. Continue past a store where you can put all your eggs in one basket and then past one where you can add a salami. Pass a bench and a bike rack. Oops, you're off the end of the sidewalk! Head back toward the cars-on-a-stick, circling the outside of a small clump of bushes. There's a rock at the northeastern corner of the clump that would be a good place to stop and tie your shoe. Facing the salami place as bend over to tie your shoe, reach into the bushes about 8" above the ground and find the film-canister microbox. With luck, it will be held to one of the branches with a loop of Velcro. BE VERY DISCREET FINDING AND REPLACING THE BOX!!