This spring, Chicago artist James Sturnfield put out a call to his fellow artists. Did anyone want to paint fresh murals on Union Pacific retaining walls on Hubbard Street in West Town?
Home to many historic murals, the stretch near Fulton Market between Ogden Avenue and Desplaines Street has been tagged up and some murals left in disrepair. Sturnfield’s plan was to encourage talented Chicago artists to revive the street and restore it, at least partially, to its former glory.
“We’re just trying to show the city and community that something can be done a lot better than leaving these walls the way they are,” Sturnfield says.
Dozens of muralists showed up for a weekend, including artists who go by the names Wingchow, Roams, AJ Ainscough, Senkoe and Viril the Mouse. Swirls of color burst from the new panels, which include birds, flowers and a whale jumping from the ocean. Many of the new murals continue the environmental theme that inspired the first murals on Hubbard Street in the 1970s.
But now a controversy is brewing over who has the right to paint on the railroad’s property.
Levar Hoard, who says he’s the curator of the Hubbard Street walls, says Sturnfield and his fellow artists didn’t have permission to paint there. Hoard is threatening legal action and said he’ll paint over all of the new additions, citing a contract between him and the walls’ first artist — a contract that Hoard says gave him permission to curate the Hubbard Street retaining wall collection in perpetuity.
But Union Pacific representatives say Hoard has no such authority, that they revoked his permission to paint on their property four years ago. They don’t say why. Sturnfield also concedes he didn’t have permission from Union Pacific to paint the new murals. It’s not clear yet what the railroad will do about the new works.
“Union Pacific supports art in communities, and we have a process in place to evaluate and approve any proposed murals that involve Union Pacific property. Union Pacific retains sole authority over this process,” says a statement from spokeswoman Robynn Tysver. “A former agreement with Mr. Levar Hoard, allowing him to paint murals on Union Pacific property, was terminated in 2021.”
Tysver declined to comment on which artists still have approval from Union Pacific to paint the Hubbard Street walls. But she confirmed that Hoard is not one of them.
The murals stir passion because “people who live around public art, they develop a certain amount of pride and ownership in their community. It becomes home for them. It’s place making,” says Chantal Healey. The former executive director of Chicago Public Art Group now runs her own consulting firm, Cocodoge, providing legal support for creatives and nonprofits.
Public art speaks to a community’s identity, history and culture, Healey says, and encourages economic investment. “Everyone deserves to experience great art. It’s not just for the privileged.”
Artist Ricardo Alzonzo started the Hubbard Street murals in the 1970s. Over years, he and his students painted the first murals with a focus on environmental themes. Since then, other artists have added to the walls. Another wave of murals was added in 2000, and another in 2019. The 2019 wave was largely curated by Hoard, according to a Sun-Times story then about the Hubbard Street murals.
Hoard ran the B_Line Project, “whose team is touching up some of the murals and painting others over with new art,” the 2019 story said. “Ultimately, the project will include more than 250 images spanning roughly a mile.”
“I want to make this the Art Institute of the streets,” Hoard said then of Hubbard Street. “I want people to see the art and be changed, be impressed, be astounded by all of the amazing work that is displayed.”
Alonzo said then that he had given Hoard his blessing to pursue his vision for restoring and adding to the Hubbard Street murals.
Now, Hoard says that while the B_Line Project no longer exists, his contract with Alonzo still stands, transferring to him Union Pacific’s permission to curate the walls. He declined to provide a copy of the contract.
Sturnfield says he’s working with artists who are donating their time and materials to beautify what was once a destination for art. He says he hopes to work with Union Pacific to secure the necessary permissions. Learning that Hoard’s permission was revoked, he says, makes that easier.
“We did this as a community effort. This wasn’t one person or one group. Some people who really don’t like each other put politics aside to come out and paint next to each other,” Sturnfield says. “I did this for the Chicago community.”