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ROGERS PARK — The neighborhood’s collection of viaduct murals have been refurbished ahead of a new series of walking tours that will show off Rogers Park’s public art collection.
“The Mile of Murals” consists of 14 murals painted on the Red Line embankments and viaducts running through Rogers Park. Those murals received touch-ups starting last year in anticipation of the Chicago Architecture Center’s walking tours this summer.
Local artist GAPE ONE (aka Anthony Gonzalez) was hired to refurbish the paintings. Gonzalez helped clean, repair and add anti-graffiti coating to the murals, according to the Rogers Park Business Alliance.
Credit: Courtesy Rogers Park Business AllianceArtist Peter Hurley is adding a music-themed painting to a damaged section of “The Movement and Stillness,” which he and Scott Bullock painted in 2014 on the Red Line tracks at Glenwood Avenue between Lunt and Greanleaf avenues.
Hurley will feature several successful Chicago musicians in the mural that is expected to debut in August, according to the business alliance.
The murals will be hightlighted in the Chicago Architecture Center’s “Rogers Park: Mile of Murals” tour.
The 90-minute walking tour takes place at 1 p.m. on Saturdays monthly through October. The next tour is Saturday followed by July 16, Aug. 13, Sept. 10 and Oct. 8.
The tour will tell the history of Rogers Park and discuss the social and community issues raised by the murals, according to the Chicago Architecture Center.
Tickets are $30 and can be purchased by clicking here.
Credit: Joe Ward/Block Club ChicagoMurals have been added to the Rogers Park train infrastructure periodically since the Mile of Murals’ debut in 2007. The artworks each have a different theme, including the history of Rogers Park, bicycles, birds threatened by climate change and the advance of technology.
Over the years, the murals have shown natural wear as well as graffiti tagging and weather damage, said Sandi Price, executive director of the Rogers Park Business Association.
“Public art has been a valued component in our neighborhood’s identity, and the Mile of Murals is something that all community members in Rogers Park are proud of,” Price said. “We felt the need to preserve and protect the integrity of the murals.”
Ultimately, the Mile of Murals project seeks to bring 19 large-scale murals to the neighborhood. The most recent additions came in 2017, when “Resilience” and “Be Happy” became the 13th and 14th murals in the project.
The mural project is funded by the Clark/Morse/Glenwood business improvement district. For more on the Mile of Murals, click here.
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