Chicago artist, teens create botanic and sculpture garden in underused space

This time of year, holiday lights bedazzle the corner of 63rd Street and Stony Island Avenue. They adorn trees and trestles in a garden on the corner in front of Hyde Park Academy High School and line a small wooden bridge.

It is the work of a host of young people under the direction of William Hill — a lifelong resident of Woodlawn who has taken it upon himself to create small, nature-based sanctuaries in scattered sites throughout the area.

About seven years ago, the then-principal at Hyde Park Academy approached him. He knew Hill had created art installations across the city, and that he’d already transformed a nearby empty lot and a stretch of land near the Metra tracks into botanic and sculpture gardens. He asked Hill if he would like to do something with a weed-filled, garbage-strewn quarter-acre.

“It was so dense that you couldn’t see the front to the back,” Hill says.

He relished the opportunity.

Hill says his work on all these spaces is an expression of his deep love for Woodlawn. He graduated from Hyde Park High School in 1969, and today, he lives in the house his grandfather bought nearby in 1945.

At first, Hill worked alone, cleaning and clearing the area and planting evergreens, herbs and flowers. He looked to area artists for sculptures and other pieces that would make the garden a place for reflection.

Then he decided to bring in students. Hill runs an After School Matters program where students are taught not just about planting a garden but also about healthy eating and the healing properties of plants.

An older gentleman with thick silver braids spilling out of his beanie, Hill commands attention. After talking with his students one recent afternoon about what they learned this semester, two of them accompany him to the garden.

On a blustery day, 15-year-old Tamara Moses says before working in the garden, she would think nothing of throwing trash into it. But now, she’s protective of it.

“I realized what I was doing was actually really hurtful, and even I get quite irritated having to pick up trash every day,” she says.

Hill asks Justin Baker, also 15, to talk about the concrete Buddha statue and the plants that surround it. “These plants help with a lot of stuff. I don’t know specifically what, but they heal,” Justin says. “It just makes me feel nice.”

Hill adds, “This is a place where kids can feel safe and have a peace of mind.”

The garden also boasts an old baby grand piano that Hill plans to help the students turn into a butterfly. Tamara says she can see the vision. She explains that a huge stone nearby is the guardian of the garden; she likes it because, just like people, plants and flowers and trees need something to watch over them as they grow.

At the front of the garden is an evergreen tree from Tibet that will eventually grow 15 feet and become turquoise in the winter.

There’s also a huge table and chairs, there for the community to come and have celebrations, as they did last year for Juneteenth.

Finally, Tamara walks over to a big wreath that’s painted white and wrapped with lights. She beams. She doesn’t have art class during school, so the garden is her only space to do the thing she really loves.

“I love painting and I love drawing, so to be honest, to see all the lights on it, it really makes me feel proud,” she says. Tamara added that she doesn’t really like school, and if it weren’t for her friends and the garden, she wouldn’t want to come.

Hill says he is proud of being able to turn a once-desolate street corner into a place where students and older people and the whole community can find joy.

“That’s really what it is all about,” he says.

Sarah Karp covers education for WBEZ. Follow her on X @WBEZeducation and @sskedreporter.