EDGEWATER — It's not every day you take a stroll down your average neighborhood street and pass a stationary carousel horse or a lemonade stand-themed art installation — unless of course you live on the 1200-1300 blocks of Norwood Street in Edgewater.
Then you probably see those abstract items regularly.
Packed into this tiny stretch sits a lot of friendly kitsch sure to catch the eye.
The abundance of bright, vibrant front yards and jealousy-inducing front porches, some wrapping around their historical homes' well-kept perimeter, serve as the perfect background for an array of slightly off-kilter yard decorations that somehow make the cozy street feel even more like home.
It's also the decades-long home of Edgewater treasure Helen Lambin, more locally known as "the tattoo lady" — so you know it's probably amazing.
When rounding the corner headed east on Norwood from Glenwood Avenue, one of the first things to note is the recent appearance of a striking, yellow lemonade stand-themed art installation by artist EJ Hill, titled appropriately, Lemonade.
This "social" art installation recently popped up on Norwood Street. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
In a flier left at the stand, a description of the piece suggests passers-by "have some lemonade" as they soak in the "sculptural installation and social space designed to foster generative contexts, provide moments of respite, and add a little bit of sweetness to our otherwise sour social conditions."
The installation is part of the Terrain Biennial art exhibition centering around Chicago-area front yards, porches and balconies.
Continuing east toward Broadway, one house in particular showcases a long, two-tone cutout or banner of an early Hollywood starlet, peeking out and smiling from the side of the single-family home's front porch.
She can be seen from down the block, anticipating your arrival at the house, where, presumably someone will take her photo.
This image of a classic Hollywood starlet lights is visible from several houses down. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
In the front yard is a single, solitary silver-brushed carousel horse protected by a thick barrier of deep green bushes. On the porch, there is a framed print advertising the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition, somewhat faded from time and sunshine, but still has plenty of color to pop when passing by the dark brick facade.
Then, just a few yards down near 1215 Norwood St. (originally 1143 Norwood) — which used to be the first architect-designed home in the area by artist W.S. Smith, according to the Edgewater Historical Society — stands an average telephone pole inscribed with an age-old message to leave those about to head onto North Broadway: Love is love.
A simple reminder that "Love is Love" is found on a Norwood Street light pole as the roadway comes to an end near North Broadway. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
A sign displaying an ad for the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition hangs near the cutout of the woman at this creative house. [DNAinfo/Linze Rice]
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