Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Margaret Burroughs
Installation: April 18, 2026, Dedication of Sculpture: April 25, 2026, Village of Hazel Crest, Illinois
This was a team project that involved collaboration among all members. Alpha Bruton, lead artist and muralist; Peter N. Gray, design and fabrication of the metal chair; and Harry Detry, embellishment of metal leaves. This is People Chair #29, of public art installations known as "Metal People Chairs," created by Shonna McDaniels, founder of the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum in Sacramento, California. Each chair in the collection honors artists of the Harlem Renaissance and the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
The Hazel Crest Open Lands "Art in the Woods." This placemaking project is an exciting initiative that aims to transform our community's landscape by blending art with nature. This project seeks to engage residents throughout the process, inviting them to participate in both the design and installation of a captivating collection of sculptures. These artworks will serve as visual focal points and promote connection during community gatherings.
Alpha Bruton- Artistic Statement: My "Curatorial Practice" spans 46 years.
This project is essential to my career trajectory because I am focused on creating art in non-traditional settings as an environmental installation artist, working outside the traditional gallery context. I have traveled nationally and internationally as a resident artist, engaging communities in the art of artmaking in empty lots, national forest preserves, on land held in conservancy, in alternative galleries, and in museum settings.
Size: The back panel is 59.5" long and 30" wide.
Panel 2:Seat Acrylic, Molding paste
The seat panel is bent, with one side measuring 30"
and the other 36".
RESEARCH: Why the Composition Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Margaret Burroughs?
MARGARET BURROUGHS, an artist advocate for art, founded the Southside Community Art Center, the DuSable Museum, and the African American Association of Museums.
An active member of the African American community, she also helped establish the South Side Community Art Center, which opened on May 1, 1941, and was dedicated by the first lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt. There, at the age of 23, Burroughs served as the youngest member of its board of directors. A long-time educator, she spent most of her career at DuSable High School.
Taylor-Burroughs was a prolific writer, with her efforts directed toward exploring the Black experience and toward children, especially in fostering their appreciation of cultural identity and in introducing them to art and fostering their growing awareness of it.
Why Railroad Quilts Design? Great Migration:
In 1890, William McClintock relocated from Ohio to Hazel Crest, where he established a depot for a local milk train. This depot became a vital transportation hub to Chicago and beyond, serving as the area's first real estate office, a public meeting space, a Sunday school, a day school, and the local post office.
The Underground Railroad, often misunderstood, was not an actual railway but a secret network of courageous individuals who helped enslaved people escape from the South during the 19th century. These escapees traveled to hidden "safe houses," guided by the North Star, toward northern states and Canada, where freedom awaited them.
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Alpha Bruton, lead artist and muralist; Peter N. Gray, fabrication of the metal chair; and Harry Detry, embellishment of metal leaves.
The Village of Hazel Crest Board of Trustees, Beautification/Open Lands Commission, and the Public Works Department.
William G. Hill Center for the Arts, the Phantom Gallery Chicago Network, and Allies for Community Business Chicago.