Around the Coyote is pleased to announce the beginnings of the renovation and completion of the Churchill Park Murals (1825 N. Damen). Our lead artist, Bruce Noel Mortenson, is currently creating designs for the 10 panels measuring 12 x 20 feet each running along the Bloomingdale Railway bridge bordering Churchill Park. The mural panels that are currently in place will first be removed as they are showing the effects of Chicago's weather.

Around the Coyote is seeking advanced art students ages 14-18 living in the Wicker Park, Bucktown, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park areas of Chicago to assist in the execution of the new murals starting in March 2007. For information on how to register for our mural program email education@aroundthecoyote.org.

Beginning this project is made possible by generous grants from Northern Trust and the Bucktown Community Organization. To successfully complete the entire mural, Around the Coyote is seeking additional funding. For information on how to help fund this public art project, please email education@aroundthecoyote.org.

artwork by Bruce Noel Mortenson

Bruce Noel Mortenson received his MFA from the School of the Art Institute in 1996 and has shown his paintings throughout Chicago in both solo and group exhibitions. He received a CAAP Grant in 2006 and has extensive art teaching experience in the Chicago Public School system, at the School of the Art Institute, University of Illinois, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. He has also taught mural theory and history and executed group murals with the Gallery 37 Public Works Mural program. Mortenson is also a long-time resident of Bucktown.

History of Churchill Park
Around 1970, the Dana Civic Association began urging the Chicago Park District to acquire a privately-owned lot which was being used as a Little League ball field in the crowded Logan Square neighborhood. Using U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant funds, the park district purchased the site from the Churchill Cabinet Company in 1973. After acquiring the right-of-way to adjacent Bloomingdale Avenue in 1976, the park district upgraded the junior baseball field and installed permanent bleachers. In 1990, trees were planted to buffer the field from street traffic and a nearby elevated railroad track. The following year, the park was officially named Churchill Field Park at the request of the Near Northwest Neighborhood Network. The name makes reference to the property's former owner and to Churchill Street, which runs along the park's southern boundary. M.E. Churchill subdivided nearby property in the 1890s.

Around the Coyote is pleased to announce a year-long residency for muralists in Chicago. The residency runs each year from August 1 to July 31. The winning muralist is recquired to cover the stairwell and entranceway walls in the Around the Coyote Gallery with a mural of their own creation. The mural may begin August 1 and must be ready for exhibition by the first weekend of October. The mural will be debuted at our Fall Festival in October.

Each muralist is given money for supplies and labor totaling $400. To apply for our Muralist-in-Residence program send a CD with 6-10 jpgs of your work, your artist statement, an artist bio, and a description of what you would do for this mural project. Send all materials, along with a $15 application fee payable to Around the Coyote to:
Around the Coyote
Muralist-in-Residence Program
1935-1/2 W. North Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622

DEADLINE: postmarked or hand delivered by June 1.

Current Muralist-in-Residence

Orlando Camacho, our Fall 2006 Muralist-in-Residence, is a graduate of the Marwen Art program, has studied at Pratt Institute in New York and is currently getting his MFA at the School of the Art Institute. He has shown his work at the 2006 Around the Coyote Fall Festival, the 2005 Nova Young Art Fair, and the 2002-2006 Marwen Alumni exhibitions.   Pushpops and Creamsicles, mural by Orlando Camacho.

Pushpops and Creamsicles, mural by Orlando Camacho.

Our Community Murals
In an effort to rally the public during the Great Depression, the U.S. government donated unprecedented amounts of funding to the arts. In response to the social and economic stresses of the period, this enabled the birth of public art in America . In 1986 when hundreds of Progressive- and New Deal-era murals were discovered languishing in Chicago 's public schools, teachers, administrators, politicians, and curators quickly stepped in to restore, protect, and celebrate these invaluable works of art. Chicago 's vibrant school murals today represent one of the largest collections in the country. Mural painting thrived in Chicago in the early 1970s, with artists often collaborating with community residents on works reflecting the social and political concerns of the time in vivid imagery. Chicago 's mural collection symbolizes a change for the arts in America and serves as a reminder of art's undeniable ability to act as a powerful record of a people, place and time. Around the Coyote strives to continue this tradition through our year-round, artist-led, community mural projects in the Around the Coyote Gallery and at Churchill Park.