Addition to Prospect Heights chalk mural is a sign of the times

Prospect Heights artist Kate Tully's chalk murals on her garage door have taken on a life of their own.

The one she created last fall, of German physicist Albert Einstein, was still there a couple of days ago, smiling at passing neighbors from her Spruce Avenue garage door, when she had a revelation.

“I was downstairs making masks and I realized 'My God, Albert needs a mask, too',” she said.

Tully was sewing the masks for a charity program sponsored by Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, a nonprofit organization that promotes art and nature for personal and community health in Lake County. The program is providing materials and asking volunteers to sew masks for area health care workers.

Tully said she had made about 300 masks when she realized what she had to do: draw a chalk mask on Albert Einstein's 4-foot-tall face.

“I'm inspired by things around me,” she said.

The Albert Einstein mural came to her when she watched news coverage of the 50th anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 moon landing.

Einstein was her fifth garage mural. She creates a new artwork every summer and says people often stop as they walk or drive past her home. Sometimes they knock on her door to ask about the artwork. When her letter carrier retired, he asked to be called whenever a new mural was created so he could come back to the neighborhood to experience it.

At a time when most people are trying to protect themselves against the coronavirus pandemic, it was important for Tully to add the mask to her Einstein mural.

“I think I'll leave him there for a while,” she said.

Or until she is inspired to create something else, that is.

“We'll see,” she said. “It has to have meaning.”