Wicker Park, The Garden Club and the Westfall Gardens

‘If something needs to be done—do it!’ Charles Wicker

Wicker Park residents worked to obtain Landmark Historic Status for our neighborhood to help preserve the late 19^th century architecture . The Charles Wicker sculpture was installed in Wicker Park the fall of 2006. Wicker was one of the early developers of our neighborhood. Nancy Wicker, his great-granddaughter, designed, sculpted, and raised funding for the project. The Gurgoyle Fountain was first installed in our park in 1895 and then removed in 1908 for a Jens Jensen wading pool design.  In 2002, the fountain returned to our park cast from the original J. L. Mott iron Works molds.  The garden club has designed the gardens and a special community based committee is raising funds to enhance the court with 12 historic Chicago Benches and 8 urns for the entry pedestals. At the end of the project we will create an endowment to preserve our park’s unique features.

The Wicker Park Garden Club, organized in 1984 as a not-for-profit organization, brings long term residents, businesses, and veteran gardeners together with new members of our community to develop a forum in which individuals can exchange ideas on gardening, socialize, and assist in the beautification of the neighborhood. In 1987, ground was broken along the Damen Avenue fence in Wicker Park to create the public garden. Club member Bill Westfall was instrumental in working with the Chicago Park District to develop the garden which was subsequently named in his honor. Then Marion Smith and Petrina Patti led volunteers to design and maintain the gardens until the late 1990s.  In April of 2002, the club and the Westfall Garden were revitalized through the efforts of Doug Wood, Denise Browning, Richard Tilley, Jim Angrabright, Larry Clary,Susan Fontana, Petrina Patti, Nancy Stark, Linda Schmidt, Vicki Spacko, and Lara Kastner.  The Westfall Garden (8,000 sq. feet) includes gardens dedicated to others who have worked to develop the park and our community: Marion Smith-Casey Wismont Fountain  Garden, The Park Kids Grow Gardens, The Petrina Patti Patch, and The Conrad Cwiertnia Rose Gardens. These gardens serve as an instrument of the Garden Club’s beautification program and as a place where gardeners from around the community can gain hands-on gardening experience to develop better gardens at their homes. We work collaboratively with the 1^st Ward Alderman Manny Flores, The Chicago Park District, the Wicker Park & Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, the Wicker Park Committee, the Wicker Park Advisory Council, the Friends of the Parks, the Around the Coyote Arts Festival, Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA#33, GreenNet, GreenCorps, Openlands, Chicago Botanic Garden, and the University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners.

Wicker Park Garden Club has received the following awards:

• Lieutenant Governor Pat Ryan’s Environmental Hero Award –2006

• Mayor Daley’s Gardener of the Year Award—2005

• Mayor Daley's 1^st Place in Community Garden Landscaping Region 1—2005

• Wicker Park & Bucktown Chamber’s Jaconetti Community Service Award—2005

• Chicago Park District Board of Board of Commissioners--Special Resolution to Honor our Work in Wicker Park--Garden Development, Education, Beautification

• Friends of the Park’s Seed Grant in both 2004 and 2006 for the Park Kids Grow Program in Wicker, Austin Town Hall, Commercial, and Harrison Parks

Come to Learn and Garden with Us!

Call for Volunteers!
We need volunteers to assist with garden tending and watering.

Please contact us at wpgarden@aol.com, info@wpgarden.org for more information.

Come visit our garden
The garden has something new to see every season.

Click here for upcoming events

What others are reporting:

Wicker Park Garden and Gardeners featured on CBS News - follow this link

Chicago Journal Article - 10/05

Wicker Park Garden Club Wins Gardener of The Year in The 49th Annual Mayor’s Landscape Awards

Doug Wood is recognized in Northwestern University profile