Art on Sacred PlacesWalker in front of San Marcello Mission and the mural he painted there in 1973

Mary Schmich’s column in the Chicago Tribune this morning featured a picture of a church with a colorful mural painted on the side. When I started reading I realized how relevant the subject was to our current project, Arts in Sacred Places. Schmich wrote about artist Bill Walker, who recently passed away at 85. Walker started painting murals in 1967, with a mural called “Wall of Respect” on the side of a grocery store that depicted 50 African-American achievers including Billie Holiday and Malcolm X. Walker continued painting murals until 1988 and has continued to inspire generations of street artists. Many of Walker’s murals have been painted over or destroyed but the Chicago Public Art Group is trying to save the remaining ones.

Many credit Walker with starting the street mural movement and his influence can be seen on walls all over the city of Chicago. Jon Pounds, an arts advocate and friend of Walkers, summarized his influence and the importance of public art. “You can go to Boise, Idaho. You can go to Ireland. And you will see people inspired by this idea that artists’ work should be public, tell stories, and inspire people.” Though Walker didn’t work exclusively on church buildings his influence on the community is an excellent example of what we are trying to achieve with the Arts and Sacred Places project.

We’re working on helping arts groups find space in some of Chicago’s sacred spaces so that they can rehearse, perform, and hopefully tell stories and inspire people in their own communities.

For pictures of Walker’s work click here

For more information about the Arts and Sacred Places project check out our earlier post and if you are an interested arts group or church please send us an email at pspchicago@gmail.com