The Great Chicago Fire may have left the crowd divided as to its merits, but that’s not something likely to happen with ACTIVATE. The brainchild of Tristan Hummel, staff curator for the Chicago Loop Alliance, the transformation of alleys in the Loop to stage art “happenings,” complete with DJs and installation work by local street talent including CZR PRZ, have been a laudable use of underused “public space” to showcase Chicago talent. Drawing on the dynamisms of public space use from such backgrounds as the Occupy movement’s activating for public speech by way of inhabitation of public space, other Chambers of Commerce would do well to heed the CLA’s use of art to instrumentally highlight the cultural vibrancy of their communities.
