Chicago murals and mosaics: Music-themed art beautifies North Lawndale apartment building

As residents walk into their newly renovated North Lawndale apartments, musicians like Common, Mavis Staples, Frankie Knuckles, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, the Microphone Misfitz and Minnie Riperton welcome them home.

Four Chicago artists created the two mosaics and 25 glass murals that were installed last year at the Lazarus Apartments, paying tribute to Chicago’s rich music history and culture.

In winter, the bright graphics and reflective mosaic pieces pop against the white snow, bringing a sense of cheer on cold days. Organizers hope they will inspire smiles all year, as the artwork covers what used to be basic brown panels on the building’s first floor.

“We’re not just walking past it or driving by, but we’re actually interfacing with the artwork and the community,” says artist Alexie Young with Art West Chicago, who coordinated the artists and the project on the building at 1859 S. Pulaski Road. She also created eight of the 25 panels.

The panels and mosaics were part of last year’s redevelopment of Lazarus Apartments by Lawndale Christian Development Corp. The building, along with a sister property across West 19th Street at 1900 S. Harding Road, provide about 50 affordable rental apartments. The redevelopment effort finished in August.

The music theme was selected because the corporation’s executive director “really wanted to have a display of something very beautiful that represented Chicago,” says Wilonda Cannon, consultant and capital campaign operations manager for Lawndale Christian Development Corp., which seeks to revitalize North Lawndale with affordable housing and economic growth. These units includes one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with rent ranging from $700 to $1,000 per month. So far, it’s about half full.

Artist Mike Stidham created 10 of the panels, most of them focused on Chicago blues. He used his signature collage style to create a history of the musicians’ lives traveling down the panels, he says. His art was then printed onto glass.

“I have an English degree. I treated it like a paper,” Stidham says. He applied a “three-paragraph structure” to the panels, dividing them into thirds and featuring the beginning, middle and end of the musicians’ lives.

“I tried to model them the best I could after stained-glass windows,” he says.

Bo Diddley “was a bit of a wild child,” so Stidham included an image of him on a motorcycle and another with his homemade square guitar. Buddy Guy is shown playing at his Legends bar.

“Dinah Washington didn’t live very long but she lived a very glamorous life, so I tried to put a lot of glamour at the top” of her panel, Stidham says.

Nailah Golden painted younger artists, like North Lawndale resident and hip hop and R&B artist Jean Deaux, and Chicago native Chief Keef. Painting these musicians in the neighborhood where her family has lived for generations “feels very full-circle,” she says.

“Being able to link the past, historical presence of North Lawndale with the present and future in these ways was incredibly important to me, and it was an honor to do so in the place I call home,” Golden says.

The musicians in the piece include those who played blues, jazz, gospel house and hip-hop, among other genres, and include some who are still alive and others who died decades ago.

The artists were given a lot of freedom, asked only “what was in the (musician’s) heart and what was their passion?” Young says. The musicians also had to be from Chicago.

“All the artists involved felt heard and like their ideas really mattered,” Young says.