100 Buddhas Rise From Vacant Lots in Chicago

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Manya A. Brachear
Pedro Angel Alvarez, 4, checks out the emerging Buddha sculpture
Tuesday outside Amor de Dios United Methodist Church in the Little Village neighborhood
ILLINOIS---Some believe the solution to neighborhood violence is increased police presence and arrests. For others, it's teaching parents how to raise respectful children. And then there is a small cadre of idealists who believe all it takes is art. That's the theory behind Ten Thousand Ripples, a public art project that culminated Tuesday when community activists installed the 100th statue of a partial Buddha head emerging from the ground beside a rose bush in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood. Since November, 300-pound emerging Buddhas have suddenly appeared as if rising out of the earth in 10 neighborhoods across Chicago, including Rogers Park and Uptown in the north, South Chicago and Back of the Yards in the south and Lawndale and Little Village in the west, as well as in Evanston. On Tuesday, community activists and the artist behind it all unveiled the final statue in front of Amor de Dios United Methodist Church. [link]