LITTLE VILLAGE — There's an unlikely person keeping watch on the inmates of Cook County Jail: late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia.
Garcia, not exactly a stringent rule follower during his long run as a leader of the counterculture movement (his nickname was "Captain Trips" in the '60s because of his prolific acid intake, for example), has been memorialized on a mural overlooking the huge Chicago jail.
The Cook County sheriff's office, which operates the jail, appreciates the artwork.
"We love the mural and Jerry would agree that many of our detainees need a miracle every day," said Sheriff Tom Dart's Chief of Policy Cara Smith.
The mural, drawn somewhat in the style of Shepard Fairey's classic Barack Obama "hope" graphic, was done by Rahmaan "Statik" Barnes.
It sits at the corner of 26th Street and Sacramento, on the garage door of a warehouse for Metomic, a manufacturing company.
Employee Paul Bernstein said the company's owner is a big Grateful Dead fan and commissioned the painting about two years ago.
"You'd be amazed how many people stop to take pictures of it, especially the prison guards," Bernstein said.
The artist has experience depicting famous musicians around the city. The South Side artist recently completed a mural of Prince in Avalon Park.
Garcia was the lead guitarist and a driving force of the Grateful Dead, a seminal band in the 1960s that endured for decades, attracting new generations of fans. The band's 50th anniversary celebration at Soldier Field last year made the lakefront look like a Midwest version of San Francisco in 1967.
Chicago was a frequent stop for the Dead through the year, and was the site of Garcia's last show. He played a run at Soldier Field in the summer of 1995 before dying shortly after the tour ended.
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