The 'Infamous' Yeti That Watched Over The Damen Blue Line Stop Is For Sale

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 1, 2017 7:35PM

Via Craigslist

A familiar, freaky face that had apparently long overlooked the Damen Blue Line platform has sadly left his old haunt. But the towering papier-mâché Yeti that once peered out at Wicker Park CTA commuters from an upper-level window perch isn't completely gone. In fact, here could be yours for the keeping. Yes, the "infamous" Blue Line Yeti sculpture is on sale now, on Craigslist.

Truth be told, we've probably passed the keg-toting Yeti (yes, he grips a mini-keg) dozens of times but never noticed it. But plenty of Reddit users did; and a small-but-vociferous chorus of lament popped up today after the life-sized creature-sculpture was replaced by a sign, which reads, "Wicker Park, I finally moved on, too. - Yeti"

Moved on, but not out of your life—at least potentially. A former resident of the building posted that the Yeti's owner moved after 10 years and wasn't willing to leave her longtime houseguest in the hands of the unit's new tenants. A link to the Craigslist sale page was handily provided.

The seller, Jenn Sodini—a storyteller who co-hosts Psychotic Break and hosts CHIRP's The First Time series—is asking for $500, but also adds, "hell, make an offer." The specs: seven-foot-three-inches; papier-mâché; damaged feet; kinda creepy, but apparently pretty beloved; "an incredible and detailed work of art" and "a piece of history from the soon-to-end last residential artsy loft space in Wicker Park."

The sculpture was made by artist Clayton Meyer, a friend of Sodini's former roommate who showed up one day with Meyer's creation. "At first I was really resistant, but I came to love it," adds Sodini.

If you do put in a bid, make sure your art-loving heart is in the right place, or you can pony up, Sodini says with a laugh. "I'm not willing to let it go to just anybody," she told Chicagoist. "It has to be someone with a special affection, who really loves it, or has some nostalgia about the old post-gentrification-but-still-artsy days of Wicker Park—or offers a lot of money."

Sodini recently decamped for Ravenswood after a decade in the building-which she said was the site of "countless antics" (including a Flosstradamus loft party back in the day) but is undergoing some use-of-space transitions. She adds of the old neighborhood: "The amount of changes it's gone through is overwhelming. With the Double Door gone, it seems right that the Yeti leaves, too. It's the death knell of weird Wicker Park."

You can make an offer here or join in the Reddit requiem/chat here. As with all discussions about Wicker Park, it partially devolves into tirades about hipsters.

And if you do end up buying the big guy, we ask that you position him to face street, too. He seemed to enjoy a view, and this is after all the the Year of Public Art.

This post has been updated.