Sports-themed mural to be dedicated in Rosemont
A sports-themed mural designed and painted by a Chicago muralist and 12 Rosemont student apprentice artists will be formally dedicated Saturday.
The mural is on the side of the Rosemont public works facility and concrete block wall connected to the newly-constructed village salt dome. Facing a new multiuse turf field next to the Barry Street Recreation Center, the mural features a baseball player taking a swing and soccer player kicking a ball, among other athletes, as well as baseball mitts, basketballs, and roses in honor of the mural's hometown.
The artwork will be dedicated and the artists honored at 1:30 p.m. Saturday during a ceremony with Mayor Brad Stephens. A back-to-school celebration with food, music, inflatables, splash pad and other activities at and around the recreation center, 7128 Barry St., begins at noon.
The village contracted with artist Rahmaan Statik Barnes in an agreement not to exceed $15,000 to oversee creation of the mural, and work with the student apprentices employed by the village.
It's the third such mural Barnes has worked on in the Rosemont neighborhood north of the Allstate Arena.
Last summer, Barnes and many of the same student apprentices created a mural of Mexican history and culture next to the rec center's parking lot. He also painted a Chicago Wolves mural on the side of a building near the stadium parking lot.