u/2cleverbyhalf

Every year, during Fathers Day Weekend, hundreds of community members participate in the Artists of the Wall Festival, turning the perpetually painted lakefront seawall into a massive living canvas. During the festival, 4-foot sections of the bench are mapped out and assigned to both amateur and professional artists. Participants paint their sections based on a special annual theme - which was “We Are All Neighbors” for 2026.

Loyola Beach in Rogers Park has one of the city’s few sea benches, a long strip of concrete seating that overlooks Lake Michigan. Spanning 600 feet along the sand, the bench was perpetually covered with graffiti until 1993, when the park started the annual Artists of the Wall Festival.

Excerpt from Chicago Reader:  https://chicagoreader.com/news/zoom-in-rogers-park-3/

Every year, during Fathers Day Weekend, hundreds of community members participate in the Artists of the Wall Festival, turning the perpetually painted lakefront seawall into a massive living canvas. During the festival, 4-foot sections of the bench are mapped out and assigned to both amateur and professional artists. Participants paint their sections based on a special annual theme - which was “We Are All Neighbors” for 2026.

Loyola Beach in Rogers Park has one of the city’s few sea benches, a long strip of concrete seating that overlooks Lake Michigan. Spanning 600 feet along the sand, the bench was perpetually covered with graffiti until 1993, when the park started the annual Artists of the Wall Festival.

Excerpt from Chicago Reader:  https://chicagoreader.com/news/zoom-in-rogers-park-3/

Every year, during Fathers Day Weekend, hundreds of community members participate in the Artists of the Wall Festival, turning the perpetually painted lakefront seawall into a massive living canvas. During the festival, 4-foot sections of the bench are mapped out and assigned to both amateur and professional artists. Participants paint their sections based on a special annual theme - which was “We Are All Neighbors” for 2026.

Loyola Beach in Rogers Park has one of the city’s few sea benches, a long strip of concrete seating that overlooks Lake Michigan. Spanning 600 feet along the sand, the bench was perpetually covered with graffiti until 1993, when the park started the annual Artists of the Wall Festival.

Excerpt from Chicago Reader:  https://chicagoreader.com/news/zoom-in-rogers-park-3/

Alebrijes are fantastical and brightly colored Mexican spirit animals. The critters can be spotted on windows along a stretch of what is now considered Camino Clark, a state-designated strip honoring the street’s vibrant Mexican cultural district and corridor.

Artist Yosmer Urrieta’s murals appear on Clark Street windows along a stretch of what is now considered Camino Clark, a state-designated strip honoring the street’s vibrant Mexican cultural district and corridor.

The theme of the entire series is “weightlessness.” Urrieta tapped traditional alebrijes’ traits of bright colors, patterns, dots and textures to create his own interpretations of winged hybrid creatures. He studied the colors of traditional alebrijes and the branding of the Rogers Park Business Alliance to develop a palate that would complement the neighborhood while remaining his own.

Finally, Urrieta took into consideration the size and shape of every window he painted, using that to guide the creatures he crafted. He used brushes and acrylic paints to create each alebrije. “Every mural is like a specific art piece,” he says.

Yosmer Urrieta spent up to 25 hours on each of the 14 new alebrije murals that shine from business windows along North Clark Street between Devon Avenue and Howard Street in Rogers Park.

Excerpted from the Sun-Times:  

https://chicago.suntimes.com/murals/2026/06/19/chicago-murals-yosmer-urrieta-rogers-park

Alebrijes are fantastical and brightly colored Mexican spirit animals. The critters can be spotted on windows along a stretch of what is now considered Camino Clark, a state-designated strip honoring the street’s vibrant Mexican cultural district and corridor.

Artist Yosmer Urrieta’s murals appear on Clark Street windows along a stretch of what is now considered Camino Clark, a state-designated strip honoring the street’s vibrant Mexican cultural district and corridor.

The theme of the entire series is “weightlessness.” Urrieta tapped traditional alebrijes’ traits of bright colors, patterns, dots and textures to create his own interpretations of winged hybrid creatures. He studied the colors of traditional alebrijes and the branding of the Rogers Park Business Alliance to develop a palate that would complement the neighborhood while remaining his own.

Finally, Urrieta took into consideration the size and shape of every window he painted, using that to guide the creatures he crafted. He used brushes and acrylic paints to create each alebrije. “Every mural is like a specific art piece,” he says.

Yosmer Urrieta spent up to 25 hours on each of the 14 new alebrije murals that shine from business windows along North Clark Street between Devon Avenue and Howard Street in Rogers Park.

Excerpted from the Sun-Times:  

https://chicago.suntimes.com/murals/2026/06/19/chicago-murals-yosmer-urrieta-rogers-park