A walk along Loyola Beach in Rogers Park reveals incredibly colorful murals on the seawall, but racist vandalism has marred their beauty. Regina Waldroup has the story.
A walk along Loyola Beach in Rogers Park reveals incredibly colorful murals on the seawall, but racist vandalism has marred their beauty.
A long stretch of colorful murals decorates the 600-foot sea seawall, painted this Summer as part of "The Artists of the Wall Festival."
Each mural tells a story that is very different and very personal to the artists who painted them.
Art teacher Kate Tkachenko who is from Ukraine wanted to send about the war in Ukraine with her painting of a little girl painting.
“This war is not over, people are still dying,” she said. “She is one Ukrainian kid who symbolizes what we’ve have been through with this war. She symbolizes Ukrainian peace.”
When Kate paid a visit to the mural Saturday, she noticed hers and several others with a Ukrainian theme had been vandalized, with swastikas painted over them in several areas.
“It is sick, it is upsetting” she said. “Someone put a swastika right on the forehead of the mural of this girl. She is just a Ukrainian girl doing her art."
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Maria Hadden is the alderperson of the 49th Ward. She came and took pictures of the murals Monday. Her office is looking into what happened.
“It is disgusting,” Hadden said. “It’s the kind of thing a person can only do in secret and cover of darkness. This is not something that is welcome in our community.”
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A few days ago, something else happened to the murals: the symbols of hate were painted over with symbols of love and hearts.
The act of kindness by a stranger, a pocket of hope that Kate Tkachenko wasn’t expecting- but says she’s glad to see.
