Artist's Medium Is Shattered Glass From Garfield Park Conservatory

By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 5, 2012 9:50PM

Local artist Bryan Northup is turning the shattered pieces of Garfield Park Conservatory into pieces of art. The glass ceilings of the conservatory were broken during the big hail storm on June 30. In October Northup hauled about 1,000 pounds of glass pieces to his studio. That's only a fraction of the glass shards, and he's only used about 10 percent of the glass. Chicago Journal writes:

“A lot of people have gotten married there or worked there for years. I thought it would be cool for them to have a piece of the conservatory, a little piece of history, and it’s a great way to help this landmark,” he said.

The conservatory is selling the pieces in the gift shop for $100 each. Proceeds are split evenly between the artist and the conservatory rebuilding. This video shows the extent of the damage caused by June's hail storm. The historic Garfield Park Conservatory is still recovering, throwing multiple fundraisers to rebuild before the weather killed off unprotected plants.