If Joe Baldwin has his way, a mobile garden will be riding the CTA tracks this spring. A 35-year-old artist who developed the concept in the fall of 2008 as part of his MFA from UIC, Baldwin has secured the go-ahead from the city and is now seeking a corporate partner. The estimated cost of the project is $320,000; the USDA, Harvest Moon, and Midwest Groundcovers have pledged to donate plants. So far Baldwin’s been fund-raising through his nonprofit, noisivelvet, and with the help of friends—Mobile Garden has 1,150 on Facebook. It’s part public art installation, part urban stewardship program with a strong educational aspect. Baldwin plans to offer an after-school gardening program involving kids “all over the city.”
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As Mike Sula reported on our blog the Food Chain this week, Tamalli Space Charros, the world’s only stridentist food truck, passed its inspection and is shooting to hit the streets by the end of January. Performance artist Aztlan Cardinal says that while the consulting chef is Raul Arreola (formerly of Mixteco Grill and now at Scott Harris’s new Saint Charles restaurant Fat Rosie’s Taco & Tequila Bar), the identity of the chef on board is a secret—that’s why he’ll wear a lucha libre mask.
