HUMBOLDT PARK — The intersection of California and Augusta is months away from three new restaurant unveilings, but a family of musicians on that same block has another development in mind.
The Trumbos are on a mission to bring the fine arts to more neighborhood children by building the city’s first music garden.
If chosen for a $150,000 grant, the vacant lot next to their family business, the performing arts school Music House, 1018 N. California Ave., could house a "musical playground" — a park-like design consisting of chimes, xylophones and other outdoor instruments.
A set of 20 Mission Main Street Grants from Chase Bank will be awarded in January, and, after scoring 273 community votes in round one, Music House has already advanced to the second round of voting, led by a panel of high-profile entrepreneurs and artists.
Sisters Allison, 29, and Ashley Trumbo, 26, described their vision for the outdoor music garden after a recent tour of Music House.
After conceptualizing the music garden, including gutting and clearing their adjoining lot of “weeds, gravel and garbage,” the sisters said they’re almost ready to open design of the future park to community artists and residents.
The Trumbos' father, Richard, hopes the spot can become "an arts and culture anchor for this neighborhood," pointing out old sculptures in the vacant lot that had been left over from previous owners, then saved and set aside against a wall during the cleanup.
“I see it as a museum … a place for inspiration,” he said.
The music school and future music garden can be traced back to him. The lifelong violinist, music teacher and owner of Music House, which originated in West Rogers Park, passed on his love of music to his daughters at a young age — both Trumbo sisters now play and teach violin professionally.
The family wants to bring that same passion for music and art to their young students, they said.
A public voting period for $150,000 worth of Chase Bank grants closed Oct. 17, but the Music House teachers will have to wait along with other applicants who reached 250 votes to see whether their Humboldt Park proposal will be among 20 finalists chosen for grant of $20,000 each.
That final decision will come from a panel of judges including actor Nick Cannon, actress Carla Hall, Google vice president of sales Jon Kaplan and Chase managing director Jennifer Piepszak.
The Trumbos hope to have the musical playground up and running by next summer, but if they don’t get the grant the school has “a small budget for creating a beautiful garden space to offer an aesthetically pleasing sound garden for the community,” Allison Trumbo said.
The family will put out “a call for artists who are interested in helping to contribute to this vision, love the neighborhood and want to be a part of recreating large Chicago spaces,” Allison Trumbo said. “These artists, construction-savvy individuals, engineers, musicians and sound-artists would be needed to help design a safe space for children and families using found and recycled materials [and] hand-made sculptural instruments."
A plan for the site is still in the works, but availability to community groups, music and movement field trips and community-based scheduled events will be a focus, she added.
Have an art concept or construction skills? Check Music House’s website, Twitter or Facebook for more information and updates on the garden, or email artrumbo@gmail.com to get involved with the project.
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