DuSable Park Public Art: Honoring Native Voices - Arrigo Park Cabrini Monument

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)

The Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), in partnership with the Chicago Park District (CPK), invites artists and artist teams to submit qualifications for a significant public art commission honoring Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini at Arrigo Park. The budget for this permanent artwork is $500,000, inclusive of all costs and fees associated with design, engineering, fabrication, site preparation, installation, and related expenses. This commission is part of the Chicago Monuments Project (CMP), an initiative launched in 2020 to confront inequities in the city's collection of monuments and memorials and to prioritize new works that reflect the city's diversity—particularly those representing Native peoples, Black and Brown communities, and women—and promote healing through public art.

Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917) was a pioneering Italian-American Catholic nun whose work had a lasting impact on Chicago and its immigrant communities. After arriving in Chicago in 1899, she founded Assumption School, the city's first Italian parish school, offering free education to children. She established Columbus Hospital in Lincoln Park (1905) and Columbus Extension Hospital on the city's west side (1910), providing free healthcare to the poor. Cabrini founded 67 institutions worldwide, impacting immigrant populations across the United States, Latin America, and Europe. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1909 and was canonized as a saint in 1946—the first time the Vatican canonized an American as a saint. In 1950, the Vatican named her the Patron Saint of Immigrants.

The site comprises an existing oval granite plinth offset within an oval fountain basin of matching granite, surrounded by low shrubs and ornamental iron railings. The plinth is approximately 4'-5" above the finished floor of the fountain, with an irregular oval surface roughly 11'-0" wide by 10'-0" deep. Finalists will have an opportunity to tour the site, meet with stakeholders, review existing plans, and receive community input at a public meeting before commencing a 6-week design development phase. Each finalist will be responsible for hiring their own licensed-in-Illinois structural engineer to consult in developing their design proposal. Work sample requirements: 6-10 images, 0-1 audio file, 0-1 video file, for a total of 6-12 samples. Deadline: Friday, January 9, 2026 by 11:59 PM CT. An info session will be held Monday, November 24, 2025, 12 PM-1 PM CST.