Latest news with #JointCivicCommitteeofItalianAmericans
CBS News
02-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Chicago Park District to loan Columbus statue to Italian American group for museum, end lawsuit
The Chicago Park District said Thursday that it has reached a deal to end a lawsuit over the removal of Chicago's Christopher Columbus statues. The City of Chicago, which owns the statues, will not be bringing the statues back to their former sites in Grant Park and Arrigo Park. But the city will loan the statue that was removed from Arrigo Park, at Polk and Loomis streets in Little Italy, to the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans. The statue will be displayed inside a building in Chicago that the joint civic committee is redeveloping to be a museum. The museum is set to open in six months, Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans President Ron Onesti told CBS News Chicago. Meanwhile, the Columbus statue that once stood in Grant Park will not be back. The plinth that had anchored the statue will be removed, and a new process will determine what piece of public art will replace it. Rather than Columbus, an Italian American will be honored at Arrigo Park, according the Park District. Onesti said this statue would depict "a person of Italian descent such as Mother Cabrini." "The Chicago Park District is committed to diversifying our statuary to ensure we are honoring Chicago's rich history and diversity," said Chicago Park District Genera Supt. and Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said in a news release. "To that end, we look forward to convening the process to determine which Italian American will be honored at Arrigo Park, and which artworks will replace the Grant Park plinth. Throughout these processes, we will continue to engage Chicago's diverse communities." Back in 2020, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had the Grant Park and Arrigo Park Columbus statues — and one more in South Chicago — taken down. For all the time since, Italian American groups in the city had been fighting to put them back. This came after a group of protesters clashed with police officers at the Christopher Columbus statue in Grant Park on July 17, 2020. Some of the protesters tried to wrap a rope around the statue and tear it down. A week later, the Grant Park Columbus statue was removed, to the cheers of people who said monuments to Columbus are insults to Indigenous Americans. The Columbus statue in Arrigo Park, and another one that was part of a fountain at 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue, followed soon afterward. In August 2022, a panel created by Mayor Lightfoot called the Chicago Monuments Project recommended that the three Columbus statues should be removed permanently — along with several other public monuments they deemed as "problematic" on the grounds that they honor white supremacy or disrespect Indigenous people. No other monuments have been removed in the years since. The choices to find a new public artwork for the Grant Park space is in accordance with the Chicago Monuments Project recommendations, the Park District said.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chicago Park District announces deal over Columbus statues lawsuit
CHICAGO — The Chicago Park District announced Thursday that it had reached a deal to end a lawsuit brought over the removal of Christopher Columbus statues from city parks during 2020 protests. The city will loan the small Columbus statue removed from Arrigo Park in July 2020 to the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, which is developing a museum honoring Italian immigrants in the city's Little Italy neighborhood, according to a Park District news release. The larger Columbus statue that previously stood in Grant Park won't return to its former spot either. The Park District is instead removing the statue's base, 'restoring public access to this section of Grant Park, and facilitating a process to determine which new public art will call this corner of Grant Park home.' 'The Chicago Park District is committed to diversifying our statuary to ensure we are honoring Chicago's rich history and diversity,' Parks CEO Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said in a release. 'To that end, we look forward to convening the process to determine which Italian American will be honored at Arrigo Park, and which artworks will replace the Grant Park plinth.' Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, told the Tribune he had to speak with his attorneys before commenting Thursday afternoon. The Park District and the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events will 'lead a community engagement process' to pick another Italian honoree. After the Columbus pedestal is taken down, the Park District 'will announce plans for a process to redesign the plaza as a gathering space that will accommodate temporary artworks.' The statues were taken down amid bloody confrontations between police and protesters in 2020, and remained in storage while former Mayor Lori Lightfoot awaited a task force recommendation about what to do about those statues and others that were targeted by activists for honoring white supremacy or disrespecting Indigenous peoples. That report finally landed in 2022. The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans sued shortly after their removal, claiming the Park District broke a 1973 deal to display the statue in Arrigo Park. Lightfoot also removed a lesser-known statue in the South Chicago neighborhood. _____ (Chicago Tribune's Alice Yin contributed.) _____
Chicago Tribune
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Chicago Park District announces deal over Columbus statues lawsuit
The Chicago Park District announced Thursday they reached a deal to end a lawsuit brought over the removal of Christopher Columbus statues from city parks during 2020 protests. The city will loan the small Columbus statue removed from Arrigo Park in July 2020 to the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, which is developing a museum honoring Italian immigrants in the city's Little Italy neighborhood, according to a Park District news release. The larger Columbus statue that previously stood in Grant Park won't return to its former spot either. The Park District is instead removing the statue's base, 'restoring public access to this section of Grant Park, and facilitating a process to determine which new public art will call this corner of Grant Park home.' 'The Chicago Park District is committed to diversifying our statuary to ensure we are honoring Chicago's rich history and diversity,' Parks CEO Carlos Ramirez-Rosa said in a release. 'To that end, we look forward to convening the process to determine which Italian American will be honored at Arrigo Park, and which artworks will replace the Grant Park plinth.' Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, told the Tribune he had to speak with his attorneys before commenting Thursday afternoon. The Park District and the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events will 'lead a community engagement process' to pick another Italian honoree. After the Columbus pedestal is taken down, the Park District 'will announce plans for a process to redesign the plaza as a gathering space that will accommodate temporary artworks.' The statues were taken down amid bloody confrontations between police and protesters in 2020, and remained in storage while former Mayor Lori Lightfoot awaited a task force recommendation about what to do about those statues and others that were targeted by activists for honoring white supremacy or disrespecting Indigenous peoples. That report finally landed in 2022. The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans sued shortly after their removal, claiming the Park District broke a 1973 deal to display the statue in Arrigo Park. Lightfoot also removed a lesser-known statue in the South Chicago neighborhood.
CBS News
20-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Italian American group says Chicago Columbus statues need to be reinstalled as expressions of art
Back in 2020, then-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had three statues of Christopher Columbus removed in Chicago. For all the time since, Italian American groups in the city have been fighting to put them back. They continue to do so, and now call the removal of the statues "selective censorship." A few weeks ago, there was an uproar at City Hall over a piece of art on display at the Chicago Cultural Center. The display, titled "U.S-Israel War Machine," is part of an exhibit on puppets, and a group of alderpeople have called it antisemitic and want it removed. At a City Council committee meeting earlier this month, "U.S.-Israel War Machine" sparked a heated debate about what should or should not be allowed on city property. But Ron Onesti of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans said there was no such debate about the Columbus statues. "There was no outrage by City Council back in 2020," he said. On July 17, 2020, a group of protesters clashed with police officers at the Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago's Grant Park. Some of the protesters tried to wrap a rope around the statue and tear it down. A week later, the Grant Park Columbus statue was removed, to the cheers of people who said monuments to Columbus are insults to Indigenous Americans. A Columbus statue in Arrigo Park at Polk and Loomis streets in Little Italy, and a third statue that was part of a fountain at 92nd Street and Exchange Avenue followed soon afterward. Ron Onestim, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans, was infuriated. "How can you just flippantly remove something without any discussion?" he said. Onesti said it troubles him to see the site of the Grant Park Columbus statue still left as an empty pedestal five years later. "This is owned by the citizens, and this is artwork, and this is free speech," he said. The controversial puppet art at the Cultural Center was kept up in the name of art. This week, 10 aldermen supported an order that would get the Grant Park Columbus statue out of storage. The Columbus statue and other monuments would also get reinstalled for "expression of art." "The order put forth by Alderman [Anthony] Napolitano (41st) today really extends our emotions about this whole thing," Onesti said. "We're giving them 60 days to replace the statues based on the comments from the commissioner of DCASE [the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events] — the fact that controversial art should be protected by the city, and the government shouldn't get involved in any of this free speech stuff." Onesti argued the Columbus statue may be controversial to some, but for that reason, it falls under art protection. His organization has been fighting since 2020 with attorneys. "I think actually what we did back then kind of set the tone for what's going on now," Onesti said. Onesti said Italian Americans are long overdue to correct what he called a wrong, and said it is time for Mayor Brandon Johnson to take a stance. "He's been very specific about dodging it, frankly," Onesti said of the mayor. In August 2022, a panel created by Mayor Lightfoot called the Chicago Monuments Project recommended that the three Columbus statues should be removed permanently — along with several other public monuments they deemed as "problematic" on the grounds that they honor white supremacy or disrespect Indigenous people. No other monuments have been removed in the years since.
