Butterfly Republic Brewing: timeline
Project Location: Chicago, IL
What if a small thing—like the flap of butterfly’s wings, or an act of kindness—dissolved the tension between striking Republic Steel factory workers and a line of police on the south side of Chicago in 1937? This project proposes an alternate history for the land formerly occupied by Republic Steel: the Memorial Day Massacre is avoided; workers and management come to terms; a Victory Garden during WWII marks a shift from industry to local agriculture; and a group of former steel workers found Butterfly Republic Brewing, a self-sustaining, 2,000 barrel-a-year brewery operation where all possible ingredients are grown on adjoining land, and neighbors gather in a memorial beer garden set in a grove of London planetrees.
© Dena van der Wal |