Schaumburg Live Work & Play

silence, a father and daughter walking their energetic puppy, and a lone bicyclist whose backdrop of trees and grass is suddenly enhanced. The partnership that created the International Sculpture Park dates back to the mid-’90s, when Chicago Athenaeum President Christian Narkiewicz-Laine reached out to the village. “Christian saw an article about what Schaumburg was doing with the Town Square development,” Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said. Town Square is the name given to the redevelopment of the southwest corner of Schaumburg and Roselle roads, which was always intended to be cultural as well as a commercial presence. The project led Narkiewicz-Laine to see Schaumburg as a progressive community with which he wanted to work. “The idea originated because the museum had many outstanding works of public sculpture in its collections, but in storage,” Narkiewicz-Laine said. “We all felt it was a pity to keep these works in storage and not in the public realm so all could enjoy. We immediately looked for a site where the museum could make a cultural difference. That site was Schaumburg.” For a few years, the Chicago Athenaeum made its headquarters in Town Square. But the idea for the International Sculpture Park came first. The Athenaeum’s partnership with the village was forged in 1996 and the park dedicated in May 1997. “It’s a nice passive area,” Larson said. “I think it’s a nice amenity.” “The main idea was to keep the park less formal and to celebrate the prairie nature of landscape,” Narkiewicz-Laine “Together” by Chicago artist Jerzy S. Kenar is an arch comprised of two different colors of cedar, greeting visitors to the Chicago Athenaeum’s International Sculpture Park in Schaumburg. Page 8 schaumburg live • work • play

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Schaumber Live Work & Play Contents Hidden Treasures Slice of Life Handling Work Life Featured Business Surviving United Flight 232 Succulent Flavors Out & About Around Town Hot Spot! Dining Out

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