South Side artist Joe Miller portrays fatherhood, family in giant mural

Thanks for subscribing to the Murals and Mosaics newsletter from the Chicago Sun-Times! Each week, we

View this email online Thanks for subscribing to the Murals and Mosaics newsletter from the Chicago Sun-Times! Each week, we showcase some of the Chicago area's most interesting pieces of public art — as well as the stories behind them. Today's edition was compiled by Sun-Times reporter Robert Herguth. Follow him on Twitter here and on Instagram here. Reach out to murals@suntimes.com with tips and comments.

Good afternoon! South Side artist Joe Miller is known, at least significantly, for his dots, which populate many of his murals. But last year, he created a mural on the 1800 block of West North Avenue in Wicker Park that was decidedly realistic — a 50-foot-tall by 50-foot-wide painting of a sleeping child being lovingly held by her father. The man in the mural is supposed to be Miller's 41-year-old brother Sam. The child, Sam's young daughter Leyla. The painting is based on a photo. Titled #DADSTRENGTH, the mural serves as a reminder that we all need to be supportive of one another and everyone needs a hug at times, Miller says. "It's got a sense of relief to it," says Miller, 39, who grew up in Marquette Park and now lives in Canaryville. "People can look at it and see themselves as the child or the father. Both ideas are important to feel — both comforted or empowered."

The Joe Miller mural in Wicker Park. | Provided

The location of the mural is important for Miller. He previously did another mural on the same four-story space — of a giant blue cloud with color beams — for a music festival that never occurred. The organizers had him stop the mural before we was officially done completing it, and he wanted to some day come back and repaint something there on his own terms.

Joe Miller works on the Wicker Park mural last year. | Provided

So he did. Miller says he reached out to the building owner and said, "I'd love to do something that's from me, for me."

Chicago artist Joe Miller. | Provided

Miller's painting is the feature of this week's "Murals & Mosaics" story in the Sun-Times. Click here to check it out. Click here to see an earlier story we did on one of his "dot" murals.

TO THE MAX

Gigio's in Evanston makes what I'd describe as New York pizza — thin, floppy, sold by the slice. It's a tasty go-to and a nice break from Chicago-style if you need one. I was there over the weekend and, while en route, happened by a new mural by one of Chicago's best artists/street artists/muralists, no matter how he's defined: Max Sansing. Just off a stretch of Davis Street where there's other public art, his mural on a wall outside the Metra station.

Max Sansing's Evanston mural, done this summer. | Robert Herguth/Sun-Times

While the painting appears smaller than some of his huge, sprawling pieces in Chicago, Sansing says it actually involved "a lot of space." "It's deceptive in that way," he says. When we spoke earlier in the week, he hadn't yet titled the mural. As for the theme, it's about the "resurgence of people getting back to nature" after being bottled up at home because of COVID, says Sansing, who's about to turn 41 and lives in Woodlawn. "A lot of folks were getting in touch with nature as a form of therapy."

Max Sansing in front of another project, in 2020. | Sun-Times file

Davis Street, going westbound, is one-way at that point and Sansing's use of colors makes it appear as if "there's a continuation of the sky-scape" as you approach and pass. He also designed it so that no matter where you might snap a photo of the mural, there's no dead space. As Sansing puts it, "there's a focal point in every angle." He hasn't done much work in the near north suburb — though maybe 20 years back did a "graffiti mural" in town with other artists. He was struck this time how many interested people there are in art in Evanston. "I must've, oh my God, had 50 to 70 conversations" while painting the piece this summer, he says. The painting was sponsored by a nonprofit called Downtown Evanston and overseen by another group called Art Encounter.

SICK IS BACK

Artist Nick Fisher, who goes by "Sick Fisher" for his artwork, is back living in Chicago "after spending the past three years based out of Los Angeles," according to our friends at Block Club Chicago. "The prolific and well-known artist plans to touch up his existing works, take on new public art projects and 'be creative in the city I feel the most real,'" Fisher says in the recent article. Below is one of our favorites of his, on the 1100 block of North California Avenue.

Sun-Times files

The dog (and the building) are now gone, Fisher says. We caught up with him the other day, and he was fast at work on another mural on the North Side. "I'm on a lift in Lincoln Square right now painting," he told us, adding that, "I decided I was happier in Chicago, so I moved back." In fact, he moved back to his old building in Humboldt Park, though a different unit.

FINALLY ...

Thanks for reading the Murals & Mosaics newsletter! Check out other newsletters from the Sun-Times ranging from general morning news to high school sports here. Got a mural or other piece of public art you'd like us to look into? Send an email to murals@suntimes.com and we'll check it out. Wanna share with others how to subscribe to this free weekly email newsletter? Here's the link to sign up. Looking for something to do this weekend? Park Forest is hosting its 66th annual art fair, one of the oldest in the Chicago region. Nearly 60 artists are expected. Saturday and Sunday. Click here for info. Have a great day, and a great weekend. Robert Herguth, Sun-Times

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By Robert Herguth A weekly look at the murals, mosaics and public art in Chicago's neighborhoods, and the stories behind them. Tweet     Share

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