Wind Phone in Evanston

Wind Phone in Evanston was created by Mary Leopold in memory of her 19-year-old son Oliver, who died unexpectedly in 2021. The bright red telephone booth was placed beside a path in Canal Shores—the color is not accidental: Oliver had been closely connected to the local fire department, and a family friend insisted that the phone should resemble a red fire truck.

Later, Mary began painting the names of people who are no longer with us on small stones and leaving them around the phone. She receives hundreds of requests, and each stone passes through her hands—priming, writing the name, decorating, and finally placing it beside the Wind Phone. She calls these acts “small gestures of love”.

Over time, stones left by other visitors also began to appear. In this way, the area around the phone gradually accumulates not only names, but also a visible trace of the people for whom someone came all the way there.