Tour the Sculptures on Clark Street in Lincoln Park
Art and culture are a vibrant part of Chicago, especially in the Lincoln Park community. Murals, sculptures, and unique pieces of art can be found across the neighborhood, including along Clark Street in Lincoln Park. The Art on Clark public art program, showcases local artists to help beautify and enhance the business corridor while adding to the rich history of art in the area.
The Art on Clark program features six exceptional sculptures by local artists, and you can take a free self guided tour along the route! Plus don’t forget to support the savory restaurants, one-of-a-kind shops, and delightful pubs along the way.
The Art on Clark sculpture tour runs along Clark Street from Armitage to Diversey. See the full list of sculptures below and use the interactive map to plan your tour.
Title: Gourdman
Artist: Shencheng Xu
Location: 2021 N. Clark
Shencheng Xu received his MFA in Sculpture from Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture in 2001 and his BFA in Sculpture from China’s Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in 1993. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions and has completed over a dozen outdoor monumental sculptures both in United States and in China. His works have been published in “Sculpture” and he received the “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award” from International Sculpture Center. Since 2004, his sculptures have been featured in the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, founded in 2001 by then-Alderman Vi Daley, annually for the last 16 years. Currently he is a tenured professor of sculpture at Northeastern Illinois University.
Title: Positivity Rules
Artist: Matthew Hoffman
Location: 2224 N. Clark
Matthew Hoffman is a public artist and designer best known as the custodian of You Are Beautiful, a global movement that began in 2002 and has since grown to over 10 million stickers and more than 100 permanent installations worldwide. His approachable, text-based works transform public spaces into places of positivity and connection, blending playful accessibility with refined craftsmanship.
Beyond You Are Beautiful, Hoffman creates text-based sculptures, murals, and installations that are as inviting as they are iconic. His large-scale works are fabricated in durable, sustainable materials such as recycled plastics and metal, designed to withstand the outdoors while encouraging interaction. Each piece transforms everyday environments into places of reflection and joy, often developed in collaboration with members of the community.
Based in Chicago, he runs a small but mighty studio that fabricates many works in-house while also coordinating with third-party fabricators and installers for larger commissions. His approachable, collaborative style has made him a trusted partner for cities, schools, corporations, and neighborhood groups alike. His projects span public spaces inside and out, extending the same spirit of connection into cultural institutions, corporate settings, and private homes.
Through his work, Hoffman aims to create moments of kindness and connection in the public realm, whether that is a climbable sculpture in a park, a sticker passed between friends, or a phrase that stops someone in their tracks.
Title: Finish Line
Artist: Terrence Karpowicz
Address: 2424 N. Clark
Terrence Karpowicz received a BFA in fine arts from Albion College, Michigan in 1970 and an MFA in Sculpture from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in 1973. After working with Mark di Suvero in 1972, he pursued large-scale sculpture, establishing his studio in Chicago in 1976. Karpowicz has received a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship, two National Endowment for the Arts awards, four grants from the Illinois Arts Council, The Newhouse Award, and numerous public and private commissions. He has exhibited throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and the Soviet Union. His work is held in collections of the City of Chicago, Oklahoma City, and the U.S. General Services Administration.
Title: Rise Up
Artist: Shencheng Xu
Address: 2619 N. Clark
Shencheng Xu received his MFA in Sculpture from Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture in 2001 and his BFA in Sculpture from China’s Luxun Academy of Fine Arts in 1993. He has had numerous solo and group exhibitions and has completed over a dozen outdoor monumental sculptures both in United States and in China. His works have been published in “Sculpture” and he received the “Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award” from International Sculpture Center. Since 2004, his sculptures have been featured in the Chicago Sculpture Exhibit, founded in 2001 by then-Alderman Vi Daley, annually for the last 16 years. Currently he is a tenured professor of sculpture at Northeastern Illinois University.
Title: La Diva III
Artist: Ruth Aizuss Migdal
Address: 2650 N. Clark
Ruth Aizuss Migdal, a Chicago native, originally trained as a painter, but by 1971 became a sculptor exploring the human torso. She concentrates on exploring the female torso in its many complexities. Ruth uses bronze because of its permanence and flexibility. Her sculptures vary in size and scale from larger than life to paper weights as small as three inches in diameter.
The public sculptures with which she is currently deeply involved continued to explore the female torso in a larger than life scale. Fabricated in steel, they are celebrations expressed in dance and painted a vivid red.
Title: Silent Tactics
Artist: Micki LeMieux
Address: 639 W. Diversey
Micki LeMieux‘s work involves researching and exploring organic forms and patterns found in nature, particularly all the tiny little live things found in the microscopic world. Science and nature reveal amazing wonders that create the center of inspiration within Micki’s artistic practice. Micki is fascinated with nature and symbiotic relationships – how life forms grow and change, adapt, how they move and what they can become – and views the earth and the individual as one living organism. The idea of wholeness with the dynamics of nature to connect all things together ignites the imagination. Micki’s artwork is intended to be a playful reminder that wholeness is a collection of many diverse parts.
