A mural on the ground at Evanston’s downtown pedestrian plaza begs those walking by abandon their direction and follow its lines and swirls of color.
The brilliant shades of pink, teal, green, gold and blue circle around the plaza at Orrington Avenue and Davis Street, traveling along the busy corner and up and down the adjacent steps. The shapes evoke a tulip or tropical flowers with twisted stems and billowing leaves, contorted to the whims of the sidewalk.
The mural, by Pilsen artist Miguel A. Del Real, can be seen in full by anyone looking down from the tall buildings surrounding the plaza.
“I like to experiment with line work and the use of line variation and calligraphy,” Del Real says. “I wanted to give it more of an organic decorative feel.”
Del Real painted the mural this summer. He draws his inspiration from a variety of styles and cultures, including Mexican linework and the Inuit of Alaska. He also was inspired by the architectural linework of Chicago’s own “father of skyscrapers,” Louis Sullivan.
“It was a combination of inspiration that led me to propose the composition,” he says.
He says he was asked to use colors that would make the mural visible to people with color blindness, using what’s known as a colorblind-accessible palate — hence the bright and contrasting hues.
The piece was commissioned as part of the Evanston Mural Arts Program, which is run by Lea Pinsky and Dustin Harris at the city’s Art Encounter nonprofit. The duo matches muralists with Evanston businesses that are seeking public art for their outdoor space.
“It’s a totally different project when you’re painting in downtown Evanston on the ground,” says Pinsky, noting that it required special paint that won’t scuff off under shoes and street cleaning.
Del Real, she says, is “just lovely. He’s a wonderful human being and an extremely talented artist, and we enjoyed working with him.”
Del Real says this was his first mural on the ground, although he painted one on building steps in Santa Clarita, Calif. A native of Little Village and Pilsen, he’s painted professionally for 15 years. His work can be found at the Adler Planetarium and in Pilsen, West Town and elsewhere around Chicago.
When he was done, Del Real says, he felt “relief,” as painting on the ground for hours on end is tough on the body.
“But overall, I’m happy and it’s good to see something in that scale and the perspective that I’m not typically used to working with,” he says. “It’s cool to work with that challenge.”
Partners for the mural included Downtown Evanston, Golub & Co.; Hagerty Consulting; Magnetar Capital LLC; UL Research Institutes, UL Standards & Engagement; and the city of Evanston.