Green hearts appear across Chicago for Arthritis Awareness Month

CHICAGO - Green hearts have been appearing in cities across the nation every Friday in May — including here in Chicago. It's part of a nationwide effort launched by the Arthritis Foundation to raise awareness about the debilitating disease.

What we know:

Nearly 60 million adults and children in the U.S. are living with arthritis. You can't always see their pain on the outside, but this month, green hearts are helping make their stories more visible.

With a city moving fast around it, green hearts may be easy to miss — until you realize they carry much deeper meaning. 

For the fourth Friday in a row, local artist Tanner Valant has left original artwork featuring a green heart near a different Chicago landmark.

His work has popped up near the Bean, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Harold Washington Library — and most recently, on the steps of the Art Institute. 

With each piece comes a note that reads, "You found me."

"It's been an honor. It's been really exciting to use my art as a way to advocate for arthritis and bring awareness to this campaign and collaborate with an amazing foundation," said artist Tanner Valant. "I feel like I can relate to it as an artist, I use my hands quite a bit, and I want to advocate for people who are suffering as much I can."

Valant, a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is studying industrial design.

"I've been drawing for about five years now," Valant said. 

But in his own time, he creates hyperrealistic pieces using colored pencils. 

"And I really enjoy the mystery of not knowing who's getting the work and where the work is ending up," Valant said. 

Valant hadn’t met, or even heard from, any of the people who found his art over the last three weeks — until now.

Visiting from New York City, Monica Ortiz-Suloway spotted the piece shortly after Valant placed it in the Loop on Friday, May 22. She is a social worker and teaches at the City College of New York. 

"This is what I call, in my disability class, the silent disease," said Monica Ortiz-Suloway, visitor. 

She also lives with arthritis, as does her mother. 

"It totally resonates with me because my mom is 93," Ortiz-Suloway said. "She's racked in pain from head to toe every day. According to my doctor, I think I'm 28, but I'm 66. So I'm riddled with arthritis on my left hip and in my lower back."

For Arthritis Awareness Month this May, the Arthritis Foundation has selected 11 cities to participate in the campaign — each featuring a local artist. 

"Arthritis can be a really debilitating disease," said Jessica Bearak, senior executive director with the Arthritis Foundation. "And I think because there are so many misconceptions and misunderstandings about arthritis — a lot of people tend to blow it off, they think of it as just an older person's disease — but it is the number one cause of disability in the country. It's a public health crisis we are facing."

She hopes the effort brings this message into focus: "Wherever they are in their arthritis journey, we believe that nobody journeys alone, and we are here for them."

What's next:

The final "Green Heart Friday" is scheduled for Friday, May 29. Clues to the artwork's location will be posted on Valant's Instagram account.

On Saturday, May 30, the Arthritis Foundation will host its annual Walk to CURE Arthritis at Diversey Harbor. The event begins at 8:30 a.m.

While attendance is free, participants are encouraged to make a donation of any amount. Register HERE.