As chief creative director at The Chicago Lighthouse, Lisa Birmingham, 53, of River Forest was asked not only to participate in marketing the nonprofit’s special art display, but also to paint one of the 6-foot-tall lighthouse sculptures.
The lighthouses will be on display along the Magnificent Mile until Aug. 11, when they’ll be auctioned off as a fundraiser. On July 11, Birmingham — who said she spent close to 30 hours working on her lighthouse — answered a few questions for the Forest Leaves.
Q: What is The Chicago Lighthouse’s sculpture display all about?
A: It celebrates accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. We asked people to think about what that means to them and how they would represent that. There are 51 sculptures painted by 103 different artists. About 50 of those artists have some sort of disability. Some pieces had multiple artists working on them. It’s about celebrating what people with disabilities can do, then asking yourself, what can I do?
Q: What’s the theme of your lighthouse sculpture?
A: I have a background in medical illustrations, and specialize in ophthalmic illustrations. In my new position at Lighthouse, I work with people who are blind or vision impaired. The bottom of my sculpture has huge irises of varying colors. The next layers have choroidal vessels, cells in cornea and photo receptors. For people who are blind or vision impaired, I wanted it to have texture so they could feel it.
Q: What do the organization and its focus mean to you?
A: The Chicago Lighthouse is one of the oldest nonprofits in the city, at 112 years old. It offers more than 39 programs and services for people that are blind or vision impaired, disabled veterans … a preschool, a therapeutic day school and a band for seniors. I’ve been around people with vision issues my entire professional career. Seeing how positive people’s lives are no matter what the disability has been really inspirational to me.
Q: Where is your lighthouse located? And where can people find more information about the lighthouses?
A: My sculpture is located outside the Hotel InterContinental, at 505 N. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. The website is www.lighthousesonmagmile.com, and people can use the hashtag #magmilelighthouses when sharing photos of them.