LAKEFRONT AT BELMONT AVE • CHICAGO, IL

AIDS GARDEN CHICAGO

AIDS Garden Chicago is the city’s first public monument to memorialize the early days of Chicago’s HIV epidemic, and to honor those who continue to fight against the disease today.

AIDS Garden Chicago is now open and welcome for all to visit.

This 2.5 acre “park with purpose” is built along Lake Michigan just south of Belmont Harbor at the original location of the historic Belmont Rocks gathering spot.

The Garden’s first phase was completed in late 2019 with the installation of its anchor piece, ‘Self-Portrait,’ a 30-foot sculpture by iconic late artist and activist Keith Haring. Ground was broken on the Garden in June 2021, and a ribbon cutting one year later on June 2, 2022, marked the Garden’s official public opening.

AIDS Garden Chicago is a community collaboration project in partnership with the Chicago Park District and Chicago Parks Foundation.

“There is no stronger activist than Keith Haring to help us honor the lives of those lost, and celebrate those who work tirelessly to educate and raise awareness. ‘Self-Portrait’s new home at AIDS Garden Chicago is a small but powerful way to continue talking about the epidemic as we fight to bring both HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths to zero.”

— Alderman Tom Tunney
Chicago’s 44th Ward

An Historic Chicago Location

The Belmont Rocks

AIDS Garden Chicago is built within 2.5 acres along the magnificent shore of Lake Michigan at the original location of the Belmont Rocks, a space where the local gay community gathered between the 1960s and 1990s. “The Rocks” were about claiming the right to be out of the shadows and out of the closet.

Since the early days of the gay movement, the Belmont Rocks were a place to call our own. The lakefront stretch of stone and grass from Belmont to Diversey harbors was a public space Chicago’s LGBTQ community claimed from the 1960s through the 1990s. This was more than a frequented area. The Rocks were a political statement tied to our liberation, a symbol of our right to be here, our right to exist, and our right to gather outside and in the sunlight at a time when our bars still had blackened windows.

Community happened along this undesirable strip of uneven limestone blocks. Relationships and friendships happened there, hook-ups, unions, memorials, picnics, cookouts, dance parties, and rallies. Artwork covered many of these stones. At the Rocks, people lay in the sun, watched the sunset before going out, and sat to watch the sunrise after the bars closed.

In 2003, the Belmont Rocks were bulldozed and removed as part of a revetment project to safeguard against shoreline erosion. The Rocks themselves may be gone, but this portion of the Chicago shoreline will forever remain a place of celebration, joy, and remembrance in the pre-AIDS era and throughout the darkest days of the epidemic.

— Owen Keehnen
Chicago Author & Historian

AIDS GARDEN CHICAGO IS NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN

THE RIBBON CUTTING

On the sunny morning of June 2nd, 2022, Governor JB Pritzker, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and civic leaders including State Representatives Greg Harris and Margaret Croke, Alderman Tom Tunney, State Senator Sara Feigenholtz, Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO Rosa Escareño, Chicago Parks Foundation Executive Director Willa Lang, and Keith Haring Foundation Executive Director and President Gil Vazquez, along with members of the LGBTQ+ community, gathered to officially open the much anticipated AIDS Garden Chicago.

SITE DESIGN & GARDEN SPACES

A GARDEN FOR ALL

Anchoring AIDS Garden Chicago is the 30-foot rendition of ‘Self-Portrait,’ the iconic sculpture by late artist and activist Keith Haring. The surrounding Garden includes pocket areas designed for reflection, education, honor, and pride.

Visitors are guided with markers and milestones through a variety of intimate and collective garden spaces all providing a sensory nature experience, the most notable being a memorable grove of Gingko trees and a perennial garden of natural plantings at the entrance. A serpentine path is the site for future temporary art installations and programming organized by community partners.

A

MAIN GARDEN ENTRANCE

An inviting space with artistically located limestone boulders along an entrance wall under the shade of a Gingko tree.

B

GARDEN ACCESS

Secondary entries into the garden. Parking access with ornamental planting beds.

C

EDUCATION WALK

A serpentine walk with colored concrete bands located at intervals to signify important moments in Chicago’s fight against the epidemic. An educational element for the visitors.

D

HEALING GARDEN

Planting beds at the confluence of the paths will be an opportunity for the community to participate in gardening and activities throughout the year.

E

REFLECTION COURT

Informal seating under the Gingko grove will provide visitors a quiet place to reflect.

F

CELEBRATION LAWN

With the sculpture as the focal point, the oval walk has colored concrete bands in the pattern of sun-rays. The pattern is continued into the lawn area where strategically located boulders bring back the memories of the Belmont Rocks.