A 25-foot inflatable sculpture will pop-up along the Green Line

“Founders” sculpture | The Floating Museum

The Floating Museums unveils its latest public art initiative

A pop-up art museum has created a 25-foot inflatable sculpture it plans to bring through different neighborhoods along the Green Line. That’s not all—the public art initiative will also transform two L train cars into moving art galleries with lunchtime poetry and music.

The Floating Museum, responsible for an art barge installation along the Riverwalk three summers ago, will run the free and open “Cultural Transit Assembly” project through mid-September.

The giant inflatable sculpture, Founders, will be pinned down next to a new Green Line station every Wednesday beginning September 11. Founders will then land at the entrance of ArtEXPO at Navy Pier from September 19 to 22.

It’s a four-faced bust representing the city’s founders: Jean Baptiste DuSable, his wife Kitihawa, Harold Washington, and a bust of a young boy by artist William Artis. The museum worked with the Field Museum and Native American artists Chris Pappan and Monica Rickert-Bolter to create this installation.

The dedicated art L cars, called “Soul EL,” is already in service on the Green Line and includes visual art from an array of local visual and performing artists. The exterior of the cars are decorated in art inspired by the city’s founders DuSable and Kitihawa. Curated storytellers also share reflections on the couple. A series of pop-up music and poetry performances will be announced in the coming weeks.

There will also soon be art installations at the Austin Town Hall and the Central Park Drive Green Line stop. Visitors can expect a field of 3D-printed sculptures and creative interpretations of city street signs by Chicago artists.