HUMBOLDT PARK — A group of artists, neighborhood residents and fans of Humboldt Park are planning to serenade the many great treasures of the park Saturday, including its statues, fish and trees.
"A Joyful Passage," the Humboldt Park serenade, is a reference to Chicago's Safe Passage program which maps out routes for children to get to school that avoid potential violence.
But the serenade will pay homage to the beauty of the park and the people who make it work through song, animation and acting.
"Ultimately we want people to come out and have an inspired relationship to something they get to see every day," said Robin Cline of the group Opera-Matic, which is organizing the event.
Opera-Matic, a group of artists bringing visual arts to the streets and other public places, previously has hosted events in the park, such as a light parade last summer where participants sung lullabies to the lagoons.
This year, the group wants to sing local heroes into "hero-dom," and so it plans to cap off the night by serenading Maggie Martinez, one of Humboldt Park's most active residents.
"She is a super important treasure to the Humboldt park community, a long-standing community activist who has worked really had to get block clubs together," Cline said.
Martinez often can be seen at CAPS meetings as well.
In previous years, as many as 500 people have participated in the events.
Other treasures the group plans to serenade include the statue of Alexander von Humboldt; the fish in the lagoons; the remaining ash trees and a hidden snail sculpture that many people do not know is behind a fence.
“This year instead of singing lullabies, we wanted to explore what it felt like to sing songs of praise and songs of serenades," Cline said.
Other art installations include a bicycle-powered zoetrope that depicts a man fishing, and a light-and-shadow play with horse puppets that will gallop toward the historic horse stables of the park (now the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture.)
The Humboldt Park Neighborhood Children's Choir will kick off the evening with a performance at 7:30 p.m.
Participants can then stroll through the park, serenading along the way.
The evening closes with the serenade of Martinez at the Boathouse at 9 p.m.
"We are hoping to bring people together to be their own inspiring spectacle," Cline said.
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