Palmer Square Park’s ‘Helping Hand’ Sculpture Removed — But Neighbors Hope To Bring It Back

LOGAN SQUARE — For eight years, the big white hand sculpture seen at Palmer Square Park was a neighborhood symbol and became synonymous with the park’s identity.

The Details

But last weekend, the “Helping Hand” sculpture was removed by artist Carrie Fischer, much to the dismay of neighbors. During the takedown, dozens of neighbors asked Fischer why she was removing the sculpture, she said.

“I didn’t realize it was so loved in the neighborhood and its association with this beautiful park in the city,” Fischer said. “I was touched.”

The hand sculpture is one of two art pieces connected to trees at the park, 2200 N. Kedzie Blvd., after the Chicago Park District had to remove both of their corresponding trees that had succumbed to natural decay. The A”Maze”ing Larvae of the Emerald Ash Borer by artist Janet Austin was also removed.

The Palmer Square Park trees were part of the Chicago Tree Project, which began in 2014 and allows artists to turn dead or dying trees into works of three-dimensional art. It’s a collaboration between the Park District and Chicago Sculpture International.

Citywide, the district is removing 16 of the remaining 21 art trees by the end of the year after inspections revealed that their structural integrity had decayed due to weather and other natural forces, Park District spokesperson Irene Tostado said in a statement.

“The Park District once boasted 54 of these creative tree projects, district-wide, and they represented an artistic response and commitment by the Park to breathe ‘new life’ into dead and dying ash trees that were blighted by the pesky, emerald ash borer,” she said in a statement.

While the removals are unfortunate for Logan Square, the participating artists always knew the art was temporary and dependent on the health of the tree, Tostado said. The expectations for the life of the projects was deemed to be anywhere from two to five years and almost all of the projects have exceeded that, she said.

Now, a group of neighbors hope to bring the “Helping Hand” back to the neighborhood — if they can raise enough money to buy the work from Fischer and effectively donate it to the Park District.

Jay Mathur, a member of the Palmer Square Advisory Council, started a campaign Thursday to raise $30,000 by the end of the year to pay for the artwork to return permanently. However, it is unclear if its home would still be in Palmer Square Park, he said.

The money would cover art supplies, transportation and insurance, Mathur said.

Mathur, who has lived nearby for five years, called the hand iconic and easily recognizable, so it was fitting that it be the symbol for the Palmer Bar Runs, a weekly run club he started three years ago that always met by the hand.

Over the years, he made hand-related merch for the run club and sent it to Fischer, so when he found out the hand would be leaving the neighborhood, he started to brainstorm ways his club could help to bring it back.

“It’s eye catching, creative, it stands out; I like when a piece of art makes you just stop,” Mathur said. “I want to find ways to keep it in Logan Square [and] live on in the community. … If we get over $30,000, it could be something bigger and better.”

Mathur is collecting community feedback and help from run club members on the art hand’s future.

Mathur and Fischer said neighbors have already asked how they can help bring the hand back.

“It has been a surprise and inspiration, how deeply the neighborhood connected to the sculpture,” Fischer said.

For now, the hand is tucked inside Fischer’s studio for repairs, which she hopes to complete over the winter. After that, it could be shipped off to a new destination, or come back to the neighborhood if the necessary funds are raised and the Park District approves the idea.

The timeline also gives Mathur and the run club time to raise funds and find a permanent location, she said.

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