Beverly Keys

Stockyards Baby
intaglio print including etching, hand coloring, collage and ala poupe’
11 x 15 in.

With “Stockyards Baby” I share some of my personal and family’s past that is also a part of Chicago history.

I am a baby boomer who grew near the Chicago Union Stockyards, the “Hog Butchers of the World”. The Chicago River was literally foaming and red with blood and body parts. The stench could be smelled for miles.

Three generations of my family on my father’s side were brokers. I also remember going to work with my dad occasionally, which at least once included the slaughterhouse. With “Stockyards Baby”, my intent is to recreate a glimpse of a traumatic memory from the point of view of a five or six year old child.