Tag: Flat Stanley

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Chicago’s Millennium Park with Flat Stanlina

Flat Stanlina was so surprised at all the people playing outside, even if it was so cold. My friend Jenny took Flat Stanlina and me to Millennium Park.

When we arrived there was a man polishing the ice rink with a special machine called a Zamboni. The Zamboni machine smoothes flat the grooves that the blades on the skates make into the ice. Soon after the ice was polished, many kids and adults skated. Some people skated fast or even backwards. Other people skated slowly and did not have good balance. A few people fell down, but they got back up again. It was fun to watch them and listen to the music.

Flat Stanlina asked me what that giant shiny bean was. We walked up to see the sculpture called “Cloud Gate.” It was created by British artist Anish Kapoor, and the sculpture was installed at Millennium Park in July 2004. It has a reflective surface that shines like a giant fun house mirror. But Flat Stanlina was right, the sculpture does look like a giant Bean. (In fact, most people here have nicknamed the sculpture ‘the Bean’.) Continue reading “Chicago’s Millennium Park with Flat Stanlina”

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What is Chicago Street Art

While we were visiting different places around Chicago, Flat Stanlina noticed that some buildings and street signs had interesting and colorful designs placed on them, either with paint or stickers. Some were like giant paintings or murals. Some looked like real life and others were like cartoons. She asked me what these are.

We went to see an exhibit about Street Art, “Paint Paste Sticker” at the Chicago Cultural Center. Street Art is a form of visual art made where people in public can see it – on buildings, sidewalks, signs and other public areas.

The artists are not usually trained in art schools. People make street art for different reasons: to make people laugh, to spread a message, to be seen or heard, to make others think, among others.

Sometimes the artists have permission to create their art on spaces owned by other people. The exhibit showed some examples of public art projects that the local government, street artists, homeowners and business owners worked on together.  Continue reading “What is Chicago Street Art”

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Puppet Bike, Chicago’s one and only!

“What’s Puppet Bike?” asked Flat Stanlina.

It’s a one of kind in Chicago. Puppet Bike is a miniature puppet stage built on a bicycle. Because it’s built on a bicycle, the puppeteer (the person inside the stage) can perform just about anywhere the bicycle can go. I’ve seen the Puppet Bike perform in different places around Chicago in all kinds of weather, and I’ve always stopped to watch, even for a little while. Puppet Bike always brings a smile to my face. Flat Stanlina agreed.

Continue reading “Puppet Bike, Chicago’s one and only!”

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Chicago History Museum with Flat Stanlina

One day, we took Flat Stanlina to the Chicago History Museum.

At the Chicago History Museum we learned many things about the city’s history. It is believed the name of the city, Chicago, came from a leek (a type of onion) that grows wild in this area that the Native Americans called Chicagou. We even smelled the onion!

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We learned about the Great Chicago Fire. In October 1871, a very large, terrible fire that lasted three days destroyed much of the city. Hundreds of people even died, and hundreds of thousands of people became homeless after the fire. Stories say that a cow accidentally started the fire when it kicked over a lantern in a barn.

Actually, they don’t really know what exactly started the fire. But a lot of different reasons contributed to why the fire was so big. In those days, the houses in Chicago were made of wood and were built very close together. Even the streets were paved with wood, instead of asphalt or concrete like they are today. There were few firefighters in a city as big as Chicago was. The few firefighters did not have good equipment. In the months before the fire, that summer there was a drought, meaning that it rained fewer times than in normal years. As a result, everything was very dry and burned easily. Continue reading “Chicago History Museum with Flat Stanlina”