Chicago is a city with a widely recognized public art collection. Although it has a rich history of women’s labor and political activism—including Suffragists, the Chicago World’s Fair Woman’s Building, and Jane Addams Hull House—this is nowhere reflected in the public art. At the time of this project, no major work about or by a woman was included in the civic environment. The question embraced by this work was how to represent presence and absence in the public sphere, rather than address a specific social issue or constituency.

This two-part public artwork on women’s culture and public life was created for Sculpture Chicago's Culture in Action, curated by Mary Jane Jacob. Over the course of a year, eight (check number) artists and artists teams from throughout the country developed installations, events, and public art projects exhibited simultaneously. Culture in Action is documented through a book of the same name by Mary Jane Jacob, published by Bay Press in ____.