In 2012,  the 49th ward of Rogers Park, Chicago put out a request for mural proposals. Alderman Joe Moore's participatory budgeting committee was adamant on creating public art projects to help spread the cultural spirit of this neighborhood, and since I’m a resident here, I wanted in.

 

Starting with typographic explorations and architectural compositions I had already drawn, I evolved and embellished these small ideas to create a full, to-scale mock up as ink on paper for my entry. 

 

After several months my design was chosen 2nd out of 20 finalists who were ultimately selected to produce art. Being in the top three gave me almost first dibs on which space among the many Metra and CTA locations that were to be used for the murals. I chose the location at the intersections of Ravenswood and Farwell Avenues. With an assistant at my direction the design was scaled and painted over a five day period. During this time many passers-by, members of the community in which I was representing, showed great admiration and expressed their appreciation for providing the community with new public art. It was a magnificent experience and  great feeling to take a drawn image on paper and transform it into a larger than life public mural that will instill neighborhood pride for countless years to come.