Ribbon cutting set for ‘Edgebrook Gateway’

by BRIAN NADIG

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new "Edgebrook Gateway to the Forest" mosaic mural will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27, at the at the southwest corner of Central and Devon avenues.

Project volunteer Gina Metelica said that the 12-by-45-foot mural, for which the initial design was created by resident Christina Heyworth, consists of colored tiles which were imported from Italy. "It depicts the neighborhood, the bike path, the river, the forest," Heyworth said. "All the plants are native to the area."

Work on the mural started in late June, and it took 7 weeks to complete.

Project volunteers received permission to create the mural from the manager of the building, George Michael, a grant from After School Matters was secured to pay for the materials and for stipends to the high school students who installed the tiles, and artists from the Green Star Movement helped oversee the installation.

"Originally it was going to be done next year, but (After School Matters) had an opening this year," Metelica said. "We had over 50 students apply for the internships, but a project this size had openings only for 15."

Suggestions about the mural were solicited from area community groups, including the Edgebrook Community Association, the Edgebrook Chamber of Commerce, Everyday Edgebrook, the Edgebrook Woman’s Club and that Edgebrook Historical Society.

It is hoped that eventually there will be as many as five murals in Edgebrook, encouraging visitors to walk or bike from mural to mural, and each mural will have a map showing the way to the next one, Metelica said. The Neighborhood Connection Project recently had a mural installed in the pedestrian and bike tunnel at the Edgebrook Metra station.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the woman’s club will serve free refreshments in the parking lot of Associated Bank, 6355 N. Central Ave.