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Mural Brightens Fullerton Thanks to Chicago's Dog House

By Paul Biasco | March 17, 2013 8:23am

LINCOLN PARK — A beat up black wall with painted over windows along Fullerton that once hid the McDonald's storage room is now beaming with color thanks to Chicago's Dog House and a talented DePaul University student.

DePaul senior Beth Chin was contracted by the owner of Chicago's Dog House, 816 W. Fullerton Ave., to paint a mural that would encompass the feel of the neighborhood more than a year ago and that piece finally hit the wall on Thursday.

"That area that we were right next to wasn't too attractive. It got written up by graffiti," said Aaron Wolfson, owner of Chicago's Dog House. "We just wanted to do something to brighten up and beautify this block."

Wolfson and Chin got inspiration from the DePaul music building, which is directly across the street near the busy intersection of Fullerton, Lincoln Avenue and Halsted Street.

"I thought the people who might be looking at it the most are across the street at DePaul's music school, so I tried to make it more musical," Chin said. "I'm really happy with it."

Although Chin's major is communications, she was taking a mural painting class last spring when Wolfson came to the class seeking an artist to paint the mural.

Chin jumped at the opportunity and spent months on the digital painting before it was printing on vinyl and put up this week.

Although it took months to convince McDonald's to allow the mural on their building, Wolfson said the owner is pleased with the final product.

"Putting something up like that will be really beneficial to the area. There's a lot of cool music venues around the area," Wolfson said. "We support local artists."