Positive Babel Mural Announcement

Pleased to announced I have been awarded a mural project at the Metra underpass on Irving Park Road in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood.

Materials and paint for the mural are completely funded by the Old Irving Park Association (OIPA) which is the community group of the Old Irving Park neighborhood.

The members of OIPA have been fostering the arts via mural for sometime now and over the years have overseen the execution of nine murals.  They have a proud tradition of beautifying spaces in their area via public art so I very honored to be the selected artist to execute the next mural at this key underpass.

Old Irving Park is a real gem in the treasures of Chicago neighborhoods. Please don’t simply take my word for it though as I encourage you to sign up for one of their excellent neighborhood home tours. You will be amazed by the architecture that exists and is preserved in their confines.

When the call for submissions was announced for this mural,  I entered a few concepts and much to my delight the one I felt really hit the mark for this community was the one selected. I hope that the final execution will prove my initial hunch proper.

I reside very close to Old Irving Park and as as such get to visit it often. What strikes me every time I walk or bike in the area is not only its varied and wonderful house architecture but the people who live in these houses. They take great pride in the homes and the community found at large in its accompanying churches and public buildings.

Any one who resides or visits Chicago knows our varied neighborhoods are often designated and denoted by nationality. Old Irving Park bucks this common neighborhood by ethnicity label as it is truly is a melting pot where just about every culture from the world is represented.

Old Irving Park’s  combination of unique architecture and varied population drawn from many cultures, is what lead to me presenting a concept that features architectural landmarks found throughout the world on a field of blue taken from the city flag of Chicago.

There is the old story of at one point mankind devised to build a tower to the heavens but were thwarted in their plans by being divided by language.
The fact that they could no longer speak a common tongue lead to abandonment of the project and a parting of ways as language created rival groups.

The people of Old Irving Park have reversed this negative of the Tower of Babel. They found the secret is not to build up but to build out.

Corner by corner,  house by house, city block by city block, the residents of Old Irving Park have embraced and welcomed all cultures and identities in to a harmonious community that makes Old Irving Park a special heavenly place in the great city of Chicago.

Positive Babel Mural Chicago Old Irving Park North Wall Concept Art

The world, lives, work and plays in Old Irving park so much so they have achieved Positive Babel.

Positive Babel Mural Chicago Old Irving Park South Wall Concept Art