Brooks Golden, painted an owl on the 16 Street wall beneath the railroad tracks near Paulina. Chicago Alderman Danny Solis, is stepping up a campaign to use public art to combat crime and graffiti. Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Scott Stewart~Sun Times
Brooks Golden, a 38-year-old studio artist from Pilsen, finished painting a mural of a giant owl head last week at 16th and Paulina at the request of the alderman’s staff.
“It felt great. It gives me the opportunity to share the work with the community, which is probably the most satisfying. I got pretty much nothing but positive feedback from all the neighbors,” Golden said Wednesday.
“There are movements all over Europe where whole sides of buildings have been given to artists. Here, I always felt the city had a problem with art on walls. It’s a stigma attached to graffiti. This is the first time I’ve seen artists approached to paint in communities like this large-scale murals of their choosing.”
If the mural movement can somehow spread citywide, Golden said it would “bring people from around the world to Chicago to take pictures ….It’s kind of hard to believe we haven’t done this already.”
And why the head of an owl?
“It’s my favorite iconic animal,” Golden said. “I love the way they look. I love the way they fly silently, their solitary nature. They make for a pretty intimidating animal.”
Read the whole article and interview here:
http://www.suntimes.com/14657568-418/ald-solis-turn-two-mile-wall-along-16th-st-into-public-art-canvas.html
Thanks to Alderman Solis' office
Lauren Pacheco, and the wonderful neighbors in pilsen on 16th street
Be Golden(C)
