Editorial: The tangible legacy of Lois Weisberg

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If you’ve enjoyed the richness of Chicago’s outdoor cultural scene in the last few decades, you likely owe a debt of gratitude to the genius of a dynamo named Lois Weisberg.

Remember Chicago’s iconic Cows on Parade, an outdoor bovine art exhibit copied round the world? For that we say, thank you, Lois.

Ever tapped your feet at Chicago’s Blues Fest? Learned new dance steps at a local park’s Summer Dance event? Enjoyed a free outdoor concert at the Pritzker Pavilion? Again: thank you, Lois.

Lois Weisberg, Chicago’s former cultural tzarina, died Wednesday in her Florida home. She was 90 years old.

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For six years as Mayor Harold Washington’s chief of the Office of Special Events and then, for 22 years, as Mayor Richard M. Daley’s head of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Ms. Weisberg gave Chicago a stiff shot of cultural vibrancy and innovation.

Her vision and energy brought the city a series of outdoor art exhibits – Cows on Parade the best known among them — that fascinated tourists and locals alike.

She plotted free creative programming for Millennium Park, helped organize a precursor to Chicago’s Jazz Festival, oversaw the launch of Chicago’s Blues Fest and Gospel Fest.

She fostered generations of artists by helping create Gallery 37, a student art program copied nationwide, and secured the transformation of the old central public library into the Chicago Cultural Center.

Ms. Weisberg believed in “making everything cultural completely accessible to everybody,’’ said Dorothy Coyle, the city’s director of tourism under Mayor Richard M. Daley. “She was huge and we all loved her.’’

Ms. Weisberg “singlehandedly” saved what is now Metra’s South Shore Line with her lobbying, said her sister, publicist June Rosner. She was a founder of Friends of the Parks, once insisting, “People need the parks as much as they need bread.”

Her legacy is huge, varied and tangible.

Thank you, Lois.

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