Jac Charlier, l., thanks his son Jean-Luc Charlier with inspiring the mural. [Jan Kupiec]
EDGEBROOK — A community celebration Saturday marked the completion of a paint and mosaic mural along the western portion of the path under the Metra tracks at Lehigh, Hiawatha and Kinzua avenues.
The Edgebrook mural is now the largest piece of public art on the Northwest Side, organizers said. [Jan Kupiec]
The final phase of the mural — known as the Neighborhood Connection Project — along the western side of underpass linking Edgebrook, Wildwood and North Edgebrook was finished in August, more than five years after the project was launched to transform an underpass that had become an eyesore.
The mural depicts the natural world in mosaic and bricolage. [Jan Kupiec]
For the third year in a row, 30 teens worked on the mural as part of the city's After School Matters program. Artists from the community and Green Star Movement are supervising the teens working to turn the underpass, once a crumbling, graffiti-covered disgrace, into a landmark depicting the area's history and lush vegetation.
The mural depicts the history of Edgebrook, including the area's earliest Native American settlers. [Jan Kupiec]
Now that the two sides of the mural are connected with golden tiles — representing the golden spike that once joined the train tracks across America — it is be the largest public art project on the Far Northwest Side, Charlier said.
The names of those worked on the mural, volunteered or donated money to the project are listed on those tiles, organizers said.
What was once a crumbling, graffiti-covered eyesore is now a landmark depicting Edgebrook's history and lush vegetation. [Jan Kupiec]
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