Washington Park Mural (Chicago, IL)
Artist: Montreal artist collaborative "En Masse"
Year: 2014
Date of Action: June 6, 2014
Region: North America
Location: Washington Park, Chicago
Subject: Violence
Medium: Public Art
Confronting Bodies: The University of Chicago
Description of Artwork: The mural is showing grotesk and funny comic book like monsters and also in middle of the mural is a comedy and tragedy mask. Main part of the controvery is a painted little boy holding a toy gun and a stuffed animal.
The Incident: Local residents started complaining about the mural, especially about the little boy, that it's containing gang symbols and negative images. Also a few days after the mural went up, an 18-year-old man was murdered 4 blocks from the wall art. But it is unsure if the complaints started before or after the murder. Several days later, after Cecilia Butler, the president pro-tem of the Washington Park Residents Advisory Council, asked Mr. Theaster Gates the head of Arts and Public Life initiative, to remove the mural because it was offensive to the broader community, the mural was whitewashed.
Results of Incident: A community meeting about the mural which got promised to Katherine Desjardins, the organisator of the mural, by the Washington Park Arts Incubator never happened and instead, the staff of Washington Park Arts Incubator decided to use this wall as a rotating platform for other mural artists.
