New mural created on rail viaduct

Members of Arts Alive Chicago recently painted a science- and mathematics-themed mural on the north wall of the railroad viaduct over Ainslie Street at Avondale Avenue.

Arts Alive president Cyd Smillie said that the mural is intended to reflect the concepts that local students who use the viaduct have learned in the classroom. Smillie said that area resident Ken Leja, whose children attend local schools, requested the mural and his daughter Abigail spent several days volunteering on the project.

Named "Re: Thinking," the mural contains images of the DNA helix, computer coding, gravity, the neuron-firing process, cell structure, the light spectrum, the properties of water, geology, the periodic table, flight, the atom and a mathematics formula. Beaubien School administrators are considering creating another mural on the south wall of the viaduct, Smillie said.

The artists who worked on the mural are Smillie, Leja, Elli Given, Jill Arena, Elvis Rodriguez, and Cathy, Lola and Stella Marchese.

Arts Alive has created many local beautification projects, including decorating vacant storefronts in Portage Park and Jefferson Park. Founded in 2011, it initially was called "Arts Alive 45" because of its focus on the 45th Ward, but the group renamed itself to reflect that it was receiving requests for art projects throughout the city.

The mural on Ainslie was funded through private donations. The group can be reached online at www.artsalivechicago.org.

Members of Arts Alive Chicago recently painted a mural on the wall of the railroad viaduct over Ainslie Street at Avondale Avenue.
The mural is intended to reflect the concepts that local students who use the viaduct have learned in the classroom.