There are hundreds of murals throughout Chicago.
The history of murals in Chicago dates back to Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression when he commissioned the Federal Art Project to start the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and murals have remained a staple of Chicago culture ever since. Mural resurgence was strong once again in the late 1960's with the creation of the Chicago Mural Group, a group of African Americans who wished to depict the African-American struggle and liberation through murals for the community, and was soon followed by the Public Art Workshop, the Puerto Rican Art Association and MARCH (Movimiento Artistico Chicano). Throughout Chicago's districts are hundreds of murals depicting social, cultural and, often, controversial messages. Artists, community helpers, non-profit organizations and students all contribute to murals across Chicago.
The Wall of Respect
The Wall of Respect was the first Chicago community mural, and is said to have sparked a community mural movement across the nation in cities such as Philadelphia, Boston and St. Louis. Painted on a wall on the corner of 43rd and Langley in Chicago, the Wall of Respect was a mural painted by the founding members of the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC) in order to commemorate African American heroes and role models of their time. It included the faces of Malcolm X, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Charlie Parker and Nina Simone. According to Jeff Donaldson, one of the 15 artists who took part in the project, this mural's depiction was a "useful weapon in the struggle for black liberation" and the "wall was painted with figures the community had approved." In order for this to be a truly communal project, no artists name or signature was put on the wall and all public statements were to be agreed upon by the OBAC. In 1971, a fire defaced the mural and it was eventually demolished a few years later.
Childhood is Without Prejudice
Located on 56th Street and Stony Island on the east side of an underpass, this mural titled Childhood is Without Prejudice, or more commonly referred to as Children of Goodwill, was painted by William Walker in 1977 as a symbol of his appreciation to the school that his daughter attended for promoting racial harmony and equality. William Walker was one of the original curators for the Wall of Respect. Childhood is Without Prejudice is a tripartite mural, which means there are three panels. The first panel shows children's faces in the form of a Venn diagram; their faces are overlapping, depicting different racial backgrounds with a black hand holding a white hand. On the second panel, there are various children of different races facing one another and holding books, a diploma and a tool. The third panel again shows children from different backgrounds, and they are all holding the globe of the world in their hands with the inscription "You are undone if you once forgot that the fruits of the earth belong to us all and the earth itself to nobody. ~Rousseau." There have been two restorations since 1977, and it still stands as of May 2010.
TILT -- Together Protect the Community
John Pitman Weber painted this 89-foot-long mural titled Together Protect the Community, or more commonly known as TILT, on the corner of Fullerton and Washtenaw Avenue in 1976 with the help from local residents. It is roughly divided in half. Each half of the mural shows a racially mixed group of people wrapping their arms protectively around smaller figures. The first half of the mural, facing eastbound traffic, shows the smaller figures building community through symbols of work and play. The second half of the mural, which is intended for only the locals to see, shows these smaller figures having to fight off drugs, destruction, unemployment and other facets of life that can destroy a community. There is a lone tree growing in front. Weber restored the mural in 2005.
