TREE DISPLAY BRINGS AUSTIN TO MICHIGAN

Austin Coming Together is one of the community organizations that was chosen to display a decorated tree on Michigan Avenue as part of the Festival of Lights, which is different this year, due to COVID-19. Photo courtesy of Austin Coming Together
Austin Coming Together is one of the community organizations that was chosen to display a decorated tree on Michigan Avenue as part of the Festival of Lights, which is different this year, due to COVID-19. Photo courtesy of Austin Coming Together

 Tree Display Brings Austin to Michigan Avenue

BY TIA CAROL JONES
     This is the time of year when people line Michigan Avenue for the BMO Harris Bank Festival of Lights. But, this year, due to COVID-19, the event is different. Instead of floats and music, windows are decorated by different community organizations.
     Austin Coming Together was chosen as a community organization to decorate a tree and have it displayed in a window along Michigan Avenue. Austin Coming Together’s window is
located at 401 N. Michigan Ave. The organization also received a $2,000 grant from BMO Harris Bank.
     “We created this new tradition as a concrete example of our commitment to the entire city of Chicago,” Kimberly Bares, president and CEO of The Magnificent Mile Association, said in a release.
   Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming Together, said the organization was invited to participate in decorating a window by BMO Harris Bank and the Magnificent Mile Association. “I think it was a collaboration between BMO Harris Bank and One Magnificent Mile Association looking to figure out how they could leverage that event to do something that is more
responsive to the time that we’re in, as a city, but also as individuals that look to enjoy the Christmas season,” he said.
    Shields added, that given what Michigan Avenue going through what it has, in terms of culture and commerce, that there was an idea to have greater representation of the city on Michigan Avenue. “This is the center of the city. And, I think that’s where they looked at reaching out to different community organizations that were INVEST South/West communities. Because the Mayor’s initiative around INVEST South/West focuses on 10-12 communities across the city, in terms of that investment strategy, and BMO Harris is a partner in that,” he said.
     Shields said BMO Harris made an effort to reach out to those communities and organizations involved with INVEST South/West. He said that Austin Coming Together is a lead agency in several initiatives, when it comes to racial equity and responding to COVID-19.
    Shields said the organization looked at it as a pretty unique opportunity and tried to figure out how to take advantage
of it in a way that gives people from the community an opportunity
to be showcased as well as leverage fundraising and other development opportunities.
     What they came up with is an “Around the World” Christmas Tree, decorated to represent different cultures and themes of people in Austin. The theme of it is Austin Cares. Shields said it was a way to “bring Austin to Michigan Avenue.”
    “We hope people walk past this window and get a sense that there are things happening that are uplifting across the city, specifically in one part of the city, in Austin. It is a community, for the most part, when you always hear about this community, it’s usually something negative, in terms of violence or people
not working together,” he said. “We’re hoping that when people see this, they’ll get a sense of the alternate narrative, a narrative that we know, those of us who live in Austin know to be more
true, that we enjoy the holidays just like everybody else, in our own unique way, by caring about each other, and caring about our city and about equity.”
    The trees are on display on Michigan Avenue until Thursday, Dec. 31. For more information about Austin Coming Together, visit austincomingtogether. org.

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