Earth Day has always been celebrated in many different ways. This year, in a program at Lincoln Park Zoo, a Lakota Indian will lead a dance welcoming spring. And continuing a six-year practice, the advocacy group Friends of the Parks sees Earth Day as a time for people to dig in and get their hands dirty by cleaning up the city’s parks.
In addition, the Friends group has now found a way to exercise people’s minds as well. People who volunteer to pick up litter, clear away brush and plant flowers can participate in “Ways to Look at the Earth,” a series of educational programs, hands-on activities, exhibits and demonstrations in five parks throughout the city. The events are sponsored by Chicago-area museums.
“Our focus for Earth Day is to give people an opportunity to make a difference with their own hands, because that is the largest impact that you can make in improving the environment,” explains Mel Ferrand, Earth Day coordinator for Friends of the Parks. “But with our museum partners, volunteers will be able to clean and learn at the same time.”
That kind of concerted effort to educate people about the importance of protecting the environment began 20 years ago when Wisconsin Sen. Gaylord Nelson proposed that Earth Day be held on April 22 each year. “Even though Earth Day is only once a year, I think that environmental awareness has carried over into people’s everyday lives the other 364 days a year,” says Ferrand.
The museums participating in the Friends of the Parks project bring their own perspective to the effort. The Chicago Children’s Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, for example, will combine their expertise in childlike fun and artistic creativity for a program called “Earth-Friendly Sand Blast,” which will let people view the Earth as a work of art.
Elsewhere, at the Osaka Garden in Jackson Park, the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation and the Museum of Science and Industry will team up for a program called “The Art and Science of Japanese Gardening,” which features gardening advice from experts. They also will offer hands-on activities that show how Frank Lloyd Wright’s work remained in harmony with nature.
The Chicago Academy of Sciences, which is temporarily located in North Pier, will set up a number of education stations at the North Pond Wildlife Preserve in Lincoln Park near the site of its future home, which is scheduled to open in 1998. Activities include scientific projects such as testing the quality of the pond water and dissecting owl pellets to discover the skeletal remains of the voles or birds that the owls have eaten. Another activity station will allow visitors to make a drawing or a painting or write a poem about North Pond and its wildlife.
This combination of art and science is a natural for Earth Day, says Ken Rose, an education specialist with the academy.
“Earth Day is a time for people to come out and get involved in saving the Earth, but it is also a time to stop and look around and appreciate nature,” he explains. “Awareness is the first step toward taking action.”
In the event at the Lincoln Park Zoo, Lakota Indian Julia Brown Wolf will talk about spring as the time of the renewal of life and then ask people to join her in a circle dance.
“I will ask people to gather all their good energy by remembering all their past moments of happiness and all the joy of looking into the future,” she explains, “and we will dance in thanksgiving for all of the gifts that we have received and also to welcome the renewal of life.”
Here are some of the many activities scheduled to celebrate Earth Day in the Chicago area:
Chicago Children’s Museum, Navy Pier, 700 E. Grand Ave.; 312-527-1000. Earth Day Celebration 1-3:30 p.m. Saturday; $5.
Field Museum of Natural History, Roosevelt Road at Lake Shore Drive; 312-922-9410, ext. 497. “Wild in Chicago,” performances and hands-on activities including “One Fish, Two Fish, Dead Fish, Blue Fish” by Gaia Theater, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. April 25-April 28; free with museum admission, $5 adults, $3 children.
Foodlife, Water Tower Place, 835 N. Michigan Ave.; 312-335-3663. Earth Day Celebration featuring entertainment and free seedlings; hours and activities vary; Saturday-Monday.
Friends of the Parks, 407 S. Dearborn St., Suite 1590; 312-922-3307. The Friends, a citywide parks advocacy group, is organizing volunteers for its annual Earth Day Citywide Parks and Beaches Clean-up, from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday. Volunteers will pick up litter, sweep sidewalks, plant flowers and remove graffiti at 150 sites. To volunteer, call the above number.
Gaia Theater’s Earth Bowl, Timber Lanes Bowling Alley, 1851 W. Irving Park Rd.; 312-761-4233. Benefit for Gaia Theater, which presents educational theater for children about environmental issues, 7-11 p.m. Sunday; $25.
Garfield Park, 100 N. Central Park Ave.; 312-939-2438. Friends of the Parks cleanup and activities spotlighting the ancient Egyptian gods of earth, sky and water presented by the Field Museum, the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the Oriental Institute, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, free; 312-939-2438.
Kohl Children’s Museum, 165 Green Bay Road, Wilmette; 847-256-6056. Earth Day activities: Plant an herb garden, 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Saturday; learn how other cultures respect the Earth, 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday; free with museum admission, $4.
Lincoln Park Zoo, 2200 N. Cannon Drive; 312-742-2056. Earth Day Celebration, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, free; “A Quirky Carol: A Cautionary Fable” presented by Gaia Theater, 11 a.m. Sunday, $7 per adult with one child, $2 per additional child.
Milton Lee Olive Park, Ohio Street at the lakefront; 312-464-7702. Friends of the Parks cleanup, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, and “Earth-Friendly Sand Blast” presented by the Chicago Children’s Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday (may be canceled if weather is inclement); free.
North Pond Wildlife Preserve, in Lincoln Park between Fullerton and Diversey Parkways, east of Stockton Drive; 312-549-0606. Friends of the Parks cleanup and hands-on ecological activities presented by the Chicago Academy of Sciences, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday; free.
Osaka Garden, Jackson Park, south end of the Museum of Science and Industry, 57th Street and South Lake Shore Drive; 847-835-5440. Friends of the Parks cleanup and “The Art and Science of Japanese Gardening” and other activities presented by the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation in Oak Park and the Museum of Science and Industry, 9 a.m.-noon Saturday; free.
Whole Foods, 1000 W. North Ave.; 312-587-0648. Hands-on environmental activities presented by the Nature Museum of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Friday; free.
Zoo Rookery in Lincoln Park Zoo, 2200 N. Cannon Drive; 312-742-2000. Friends of the Parks cleanup and “A Place for Birds” activities, 9 a.m.-noon; free.
