Suburban muralist bringing vibrant colors to downtown Des Plaines

Thanks to artist Melina Scotte, the previously bland facade of a prominent building in downtown Des Plaines is suddenly exploding with color.

Scotte is painting a mural of flowers and foliage on the west side of the Welkin Apartments building, 1425 Ellinwood St. The large piece will occupy three wall sections near parking garage entrances.

With instrumental music playing in white, oversized headphones to help her stay focused, Scotte has been adding oversized ginko biloba tree leaves, bird of paradise plants, peonies and poppies to the wall.

“This is my interpretation of nature,” Scotte explained.

Scotte was hired by the Des Plaines Arts Council and the company behind Welkin Apartments to create the piece. The assignment followed a public call for proposals.

Scotte started Saturday by drawing outlines of the flowers and leaves with colored crayons. Acrylic paint designed for murals came next.

The final stage will be a coating that will protect the mural from solar rays and graffiti.

The piece should be completed by the end of this week, Scotte said. It doesn’t yet have a name.

“I don’t think so much in terms of names until I’m kind of done,” she said.

Welkin Apartments resident Jon Acker watched Scotte work for a bit Monday morning. He said the six-story building is “basically a big box” and thinks the mural will break up the structure’s earth-tone pattern.

“I think it’s great,” Acker said.

Acker isn’t Scotte’s only fan. Others have stopped by to observe the artist at work; drivers have honked or yelled supportively as they passed, too.

“It’s really nice to meet the community,” Scotte said.

Scotte has painted public murals in Elgin, Elmhurst, Oak Park and throughout Chicago. Her pieces typically use a bright color palette and often feature flowers and female figures.

Examples of Scotte’s murals and other pieces can be viewed at melinascotte.com/murals.

Public muralism is having something of a resurgence here. Relatively recent paintings can be found in Arlington Heights, Elgin, Mundelein, Wheeling and other suburbs, as well as in Chicago.

rlissau@dailyherald.com