UPDATED: Murals With Meaning

UPDATED 12/4/07: An erstwhile reader of The Bench sent this poignant comment: "Hey Bench - it's Glenwood Springs, not Colorado Springs. And... it's a pretty unattractive mural. Hey, I'm all for public art, but this looked like it was done mostly by 6 year olds. Now, if you want a story, you should go back into their archives... My [friend] was telling me that with all the development in the Roaring Forks Valley, they've started to have real crime - in a two month period, a large number of businesses had break ins or attempts. I said, "So, you've got a gang problem." Also see this story, which makes us in the concrete jungle of Rogers Park feel as if we are not alone in our struggle with local crime. Why can't Rogers Park do this? The miserable failure known as the "Mile of Murals" - thwarted by CTA bureaucracy, local SSA stupidity, and good ol' fashioned inertia - has been a model of how not to conduct a neighborhood mural project. But look at what the folks in Glenwood Springs, Colorado have done. They get it, and they seem to have gotten it right: The Post Independent newspaper reports that "200 or so people who helped with the Great Community Mural Project will gather in front of their work inside the library in Glenwood Springs. Though it might seem that they are celebrating the mural's unveiling, in truth, they will be celebrating each other." Imagine that, Rogers Park, local neighbors coming together en masse to make a mural. Weird, huh? Here in the 49th Ward, we seem to prefer going outside of the neighborhood, have a small, elite group of self-appointed "leaders" decide the direction of the project, and then allow the project to languish. Perhaps it's the fresher air of Colorado that helps them to think more clearly. Renick Stevenson, 73, the artist-in-residence at the Glenwood Springs Center for the Arts, is quoted as saying, "Yes, it is nice to do murals, but its primary goal is to get people together, working together." I like Mr. Renick. Maybe Al Goldberg, Katy "call me Kate" Hogan and the rest of the Gang in SSA #24 could fly him in to do our murals next spring. Nah, that'd be too efficient. RELATED: CTA Delays Murals, Breaks Promise - Why the “Mile of Murals” Project Is DelayedIt was supposed to be done by mid-August, but in the first week of October the first drop of paint has not yet been applied for the seriously troubled “Mile of Murals” project in Rogers Park.