Inside Out & About Friends of the Chicago River

In this episode of Inside, Out & About we explore the confluence of nature and art with acclaimed artist Ben Miller and Friends of the Chicago River Executive Director Margaret Frisbie.  Miller works in a unique painting style with a rod and reel in a process he calls "fly cast painting."  In the spring of 2022 Friends of the Chicago River hosted Miller at our McCormick Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum, located on Chicago's iconic Riverwalk, where Miller toiled for hours angling his line toward a Plexiglas canvas some 20 feet away to create a stunning portrait of the Chicago River. 

In this episode we speak with Ashley Wislon the director of conservation for the International Dark Sky Association (IDA). In 2021, the IDA named Forest Preserves of Cook County’s Palos Preserves, in partnership with the Adler Planetarium, as the largest Urban Night Sky Place in the world. The Palos Preserves is part of the largest area of protected natural land in Cook County, Illinois encompassing 6,662 acres. The Adler Planetarium also measured about four times more stars that are visible in the night sky over the site than in the City of Chicago. 

In this episode of Inside, Out & About we are joined by Mary Pat McGuire, associate professor of landscape architecture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and director of Water Lab. McGuire talks about the relationship between water and pavement, and the vital need to rethink our overreliance on impervious paved surfaces. She details how we can undo the harmful environmental effects of paved surfaces by reducing their area, which creates positive impacts for human and ecological health, aesthetics, and resilience instead.

Our Inside, Out & About series is expanding in its second year to feature people whose work inspires action and advocacy for the natural world; advancing ideas and strategies of how we can all work together to and improve and protect the river system for people, plants, and animals.
The featured guests on the first episode of this year’s series are the recipients of our 2021 River Commitment Awards. These individuals are exceptional leaders on behalf of the river system who inspire others to get involved to improve and protect it.

Solorio Academy High School chemistry and environmental science teacher Greta Kringle - the 2019 recipient of our Educator of the Year award - successfully uses the Chicago River as a teaching tool to help her students learn science develop a sense of stewardship for the river and its wildlife. In this episode, Kringle discusses her passion for teaching, the environment, and her active engagement in our premier education program the Chicago River Schools Network. 

Traversing through the Palos Preserves of southwest Cook County, Illinois – the largest concentration of preserved land in the Forest Preserves of the county– is beautiful Crooked Creek. A winding tributary to the Cal-Sag Channel, which is a part of the Chicago River system, Crooked Creek and the surrounding land are fertile habitat for dragonflies and damselflies, including the endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly. It is also home to many fish species including largemouth bass, bluegill, and pumpkinseed.