"a murmuration" Permanent Art Installation @ O'Hare International Airport
450' Zinc plated Steel and Anodized Aluminum Art Installation produced in 2022-2023 for artist Jina Valentine, The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Department of Aviation.
...a murmuration is a data visualization that maps over 200 years of immigration to the Illinois region. This artwork illustrates how the region's demographics have changed over the years, by showing the countries and continents people have immigrated from, and how the rate of immigration from those areas has shifted over time.
Each section of the artwork corresponds to roughly a decade of time between 1850-2040. Each immigrant population is represented by a disc that corresponds to US Census data on the number of people from a particular country settled in Illinois in each decade. The discs themselves are color-coded by continent. The color shifts as you move from one end of the piece to the other, illustrating the changes in immigration patterns over time.
Out of nearly 600 discs, 80 are engraved with texts contributed by 80 different community partners. The phrases speak of home, welcome, and community, reflecting the character of the immigrant community each represents.
Each phrase is written in a language native to the place of origin. English and Spanish translations, alongside contextual information and contributor details, can be found on the project website.
Special Thanks:
Max Davis
Arek Mazurek
Jim Pawlikowski
Pioneer Metal Finishing
Gatto Metal Finishing
EH Schwab
Terry Dowd
& the ChiLab Team
image credits: Carrie Shepherd/Axios