In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, Budlong Woods Branch hosts Pat Nabong's photography exhibit showcasing the First Nations Garden in November.
Artist Statement
"In late 2018, a group of young Native Americans, together with the American Indian Center, acquired a piece of vacant land from the city in the Albany Park neighborhood. Over the course of several months, the group transformed the vacant lot (which used to be a printing press) into a community garden and a safe, intergenerational space for Native Americans to come together, practice their culture and grow their own medicine. I documented the process of converting the vacant lot into a community space, now called the First Nations Garden, that houses a tepee and a wigwam. The garden is an asset to the Native American community in Chicago, and many see the process of converting it from a vacant lot to a garden as a process of reclamation."
