This sculpture is part of the CICADA-PARADE-A public art program Learn more at https://www.cicada2024.com/

 

This cicada is named "édsawé " (pronounced ed-sa-way), the Potawatomi word for cicada.

Potawatomi Language Dictionary - View Word (potawatomidictionary.com)

 

Different species of cicadas have existed for millions of years, and many of us are very familiar with the brown/green creatures who fly in the treetops and land in our yards. However, when the cicada nymphs first emerge from the ground in the evening, they climb up trees and to shed their exoskeletons. During this brief time, the adult cicadas are white and soft-bodied. Overnight, they darken and harden. My white and gold design was inspired by the ghostly appearance the cicadas take on for that one night only. I chose this stage to honor the memory of those people who inhabited Chicago long before the Europeans arrived. 

 

Chicago is located on the ancestral lands of indigenous tribes including the Council of the Three Fires--comprised of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi Nations--as well as the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo, and Illinois Nations. The Bowmanville neighborhood (just to the north of Winnemac Park where this cicada is displayed) and nearby Rosehill Cemetery are known locations of once large Native American settlements. 

 

This sculpture is made of solid plaster with embedded copper legs. It has been decorated with oil paints and sprayed with a clear uv-resistant coating. It will remain in Winnemac Park until the end of the summer.

 

 

Artist: Amy F. Williamson

williamson.amyf@gmail.com 

instagram.com@amyfwilliamsonart