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Read the press release here.

Edgebrook Mural's Second Phase Nearly Complete

  Thirty teens, supervised by artists, are working to create the mixed-media mural this summer. 
Edgebrook Mural
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EDGEBROOK — Work is nearly complete on the second phase of a painted and mosaic mural along the western portion of the path under the Metra tracks at Lehigh, Hiawatha and Kinzua avenues, organizers said.

A celebration will take place at 10 a.m. Aug. 16 to mark the work of 30 teens supervised by artists from the community and Green Star Movement that has turned the underpass, once a crumbling, graffiti-covered disgrace, into a landmark depicting the area's history and lush vegetation.

The first phase of the mural — known as the Neighborhood Connection Project — along the eastern side of underpass linking Edgebrook, Wildwood and North Edgebrook was completed last summer.

Green Star Movement, a nonprofit organization that has worked with schools and neighborhoods to create public art projects throughout the city, partnered with After School Matters to pay the teens.

Once the mural is finished next summer, it will be the largest public art project on the Far Northwest Side, said Jac Charlier, a member of the Edgebrook Community Association board of directors, who has been coordinating the three-year-long project.

The second phase of the mural depicts the 1943 opening of the underpass, which allows residents to cross the train tracks and avoid busy Devon Avenue, as well as more of the area's flora and fauna.

The mural will also honor the area's earliest settlers, members of the Potawatomi tribe of Native Americans.

Those who are interested in donating to the next phases of the mural can go to greenstarmovement.org or email Jac Charlier at jaccharlier@gmail.com.

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