This graffiti mural honors Chicago music legend Frankie Knuckles. The Rooftop wall at Fullerton and California Ave. in Logan Square Chicago can be seen easily seen from the Blue Line, midway between the California and Logan Square stops.
Frankie Knuckles 2014 - ABC Project from BboyB ABC on Vimeo.
From the moment he heard that iconic DJ Frankie Knuckles had died, the local DJ and graffiti artist known as Mike Tupak began planning a mural to honor the musical legend.
Public art seemed the best way to honor Knuckles while educating those that may not have known what the man meant to many here.
“I didn’t personally know Frankie, but a lot of my friends did and they were hurting,” Tupak said. “I just knew (a mural) had to be done. I reached out to other artists and said, ‘We gotta do it.’ ”
Growing up in Chicago in the 1980s, house music unified young people from all over the city and got them grooving to the same beat, said graffiti artist known as BboyB. He was referred to as the “godfather of house.”
When Knuckles, 59, died of complications from diabetes in April, it was like losing a close friend for many fans.
For weeks, a group of seven graffiti artists scouted locations, collaborated on a design and coordinated a time to create a mural. They wanted a space that would get a lot of eyes, but also had enough room to create a big display.
BboyB, Tupak and other mural artists such as Skol, Mugs, Statik, Des and Flash came together because they all were fans of Knuckles, BboyB said.
Because the men are artists in what is still considered a controversial art form, they all go by pseudonyms.
The idea for the wall came from Tupak. BboyB found the space to paint it and Flash organized the work. The men first covered the wall blue, then they painted together to get the colorful mural finished.
They unveiled their wall in Logan Square earlier this week. It is located on the rooftop of X-It European Clothing Co. in the 2900 block of West Fullerton Avenue, facing the CTA Blue Line tracks.
“People ride that train line everyday,” Tupak said. “They come into O’Hare and they take the Blue Line downtown. Now the first thing they will see is Frankie Knuckles. It will hit them that we care.”
The mural shows an image of Knuckles with a glowing vinyl record behind him as a halo. The paint on the mural is bright and colorful, a nod to Knuckles’ happy and uplifting disposition, BboyB said. In the portrait, Knuckles is smiling because in life he always wore a grin.
“We didn’t want it to be a ‘Rest In Peace’ wall,” he said. “Those seem more gang-related or like someone shot you. We wanted it to show him as loved by Chicago. The only thing that shows he is deceased is we put the year he was born and the year he died.”
The artists used nearly 100 cans of spray paint on the mural and paid for the project themselves. They finished the piece after working on it for about three days. They don’t know how long it will stay up.
“A lot of young people have stopped by to take pictures,” said Erik Melos, the owner of the clothing store where the mural is located. “I see the viewers from the train checking out the work. The art is positive and very tastefully done.”
lbowean@tribune.com
Twitter: @lollybowean
Copyright © 2014 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC
Meter Beaters, self-described by creator Mike Mullin as the "first app to display free street parking" in Chicago, is designed to help users find those precious few free street parking spots in the city. Meter Beaters says its app covers "200 miles of street parking that is free and unrestricted for at least 1 hour."
Mullin writes Meter Beaters is "based on your time and location inputs," and "encompasses the enforcement time periods for permit zones, meter zones, loading zones, rush hour zones and other restrictions." That means any parking restriction is accounted for as you look for free street parking. And if you can't find it? There's an interactive meter map for those times when you just need to bite the bullet. For permit holders, there's a permit map to help guide you through the boundaries of the permit zone.
The Meter Beaters app was added to the iTunes store last month. You get 15 free daily searches with the app. Otherwise, there's an 99 cent in-app purchase which allows for 100 non-expiring search credits.
So far, the Meter Beaters app overwhelmingly covers a swath of North side and near Loop neighborhoods, which is hardly representational. [And, even then, there's no Logan Square or Rogers Park, for instance, listed amongst the neighborhoods covered.] That said, the app page says they will add more and more neighborhoods. We're eager to see South and West siders use the app.
Use it, because the parking meter deal isn't going away anytime soon.
by:Jon Graef/Chicagoist
