Main Street Mural Update: Masonry Work
It’s been nearly six months since we first announced the Main Street Mural Project. Since then, we’ve been hard at work behind the scenes talking with community members and business owners about their hopes for the project, hosting workshops to generate ideas, making tiles, applying for permits, and more.
While we’ve enjoyed the process, we’ve been eager to see some tangible work begin. As of June 1, it has begun!
Workers from Evanston Masonry set up scaffolding in our back parking lot and got to work on repairing the wall to get it ready for the new mural. They removed the first layer of brick from the entire wall, starting with the highest part of the wall on the left, then moving down to the portion of the wall where the old mural was painted.
Students from Nichols Middle School created the original mural in 1993. The project was led by legendary art teacher, Carla Kinney-Philips.
Over the years, the vibrant painting had faded, and in many places, pieces of the mural were falling off due to exposure to harsh weather conditions.
We’ve been collecting pieces of the old mural and will be incorporating them into the new mural along with tiles that have been created by community members.
Masonry work will be wrapping up at the end of June. We’re hoping that muralist Oscar Joyo can begin painting in July. Stay tuned!
The Main Street Mural is made possible by community members like you! Your donation will help pay for permitting, paint, supplies, on-going maintenance and more.
Be a part of creating a piece of Evanston history. Donate today!