Westhaven Mosaic Project

Westhaven (2009)

Partner – Brinshore Michaels

Ten years ago, not long after Neil Gaffney conceived of archi-treasures – while working on a proposal for Cabrini Green – the City of Chicago and Mayor Daley unveiled their new Plan for Transformation. Their goal was to transform our failed public housing system utilizing a new mixed-income neighborhood model, the success of which has yet to be determined.

After working at Legends South, the new mixed-income community in the footprint of the old Robert Taylor homes, archi-treasures signed on to work in another one of these neighborhoods. Formerly the Henry Horner homes, Westhaven is located just north of the United Center on the near west side. The challenge of working in these neighborhoods, to which archi-treasures is particularly well-suited, is to work with residents whose lives are vastly different from one another, in order to facilitate real community.

This project consisted of a series of mosaic workshops, in which residents of all ages came together to create a beautiful mosaic wall. We had an amazingly dedicated groups of residents of all ages, and we are eager to invite everyone out on Saturday, November 21 at 11am for our dedication ceremony.