(Laura M. Browning/Chicagoist)

The good folks over at Chicagoist have started showcasing the many murals on the South Side. This week’s entry in their mural series is located at the Metra underpass at 56th Street and Stony Island. The mural, Childhood is Without Prejudice, features children of many races with their faces interlocked in Venn diagrams. William Walker, the artist, was one of the founders of the community art movement in the 1960s and painted many notable murals throughout Chicago, such as All of Mankind (1972) on the Strangers Home Missionary Church and the Wall of Respect (1967), now demolished.

The last mural showcased, Where We Come From… Where We’re Going (1992), also has an incredibly interesting story. Artist and UIC professor Olivia Gude, who has written a book about urban art in Chicago, stood outside the 56th and Lake Park Metra underpass and took down the stories of the passersby. She then painted their stories, omitting any names.

Childhood is Without Prejudice was restored last year, and the Chicago Public Art Group is behind many of the restorations that have taken place around the South Side. In addition to restoring historic public art, CPAG does quite a bit of work encouraging new artists, designing public art projects, and encouraging community development. They also have a handy map of all the public art around  the Chicago area.

One of the countless photos for sale: Patrolman Bill Edwards studies a map of Hyde Park, January 2, 1968 (Chicago Sun-Times)

A rummage sale is always a great way to make a few dollars while getting rid of all that clutter. The Chicago Sun-Times, which could certainly use a little extra cash, has decided to clean out its archives and put up thousands (yes, thousands) of original photographic prints up for sale on eBay. Starting at $9.99, the photos range from mundane to surreal, from humorous to beautiful.

During a graduate seminar at UIC in 2008, Joe Baldwin came up with an idea for a mobile garden attached to a CTA train that would travel around the city bringing a bit of green into all of our lives. On Saturday he announced on his website that the CTA has approved the project. No word yet on when the garden will appear. [via Hugh Bartling]

Courtesy of Golden Age

Golden Age, a Pilsen gallery and “concept shop” whose exhibitions we’ve covered before, is moving to the West Loop, according to an announcement posted on their website yesterday. In our October 2008 feature on galleries in West Pilsen, co-founder Marco Kane Braunschweiler spoke highly of the neighborhood around Golden Age. “Where there’s open storefronts [around here], those storefronts often turn into galleries,” he told us. “It seems likely that there’ll be a lot more art spaces.” Things are looking a bit different in Pilsen these days, with galleries moving out or closing right and left.

Golden Age’s last open day at its current location will be Sunday, January 24, and they expect to open at their new (undisclosed) location in the West Loop late next month.

South of Roosevelt “resides an art community that is often invisible to the mainstream,” writes Andre Guichard in the first post on his new blog, Fine Art South of Roosevelt Road. As an artist and the director of Gallery Guichard in Bronzeville, Guichard is a tireless promoter of art of the African diaspora, and the blog promises to continue this work by introducing readers to more than one hundred artists and collectors south of Roosevelt. It will also include updates about art events and exhibitions.

From the People's Atlas of Chicago project; AREA Chicago

A panel discussion on arts and activism in the Chicago, St. Louis, and Detroit will be held simultaneously from all three cities, linked via the internet this Thursday. In Chicago, Little Black Pearl in Kenwood is hosting the event. The event is part of the “Arts and Activism in the Midwest” series, which is part of the Chicago Calling Arts Festival, which is itself part of Chicago Artists Month. In Chicago, the panel is Lindsay Obermeyer, Carol Ng-He, Jennifer Karmin, Dan Godston, and at least one other artist. That may seem like a big panel already, but keep in mind St. Louis and Detroit also have four to five panelists each. It should be interesting to see how a 15-panelist, three-location discussion can take place without collapsing into chaos, let alone be productive. Still, they must know what they’re doing.

October 1, 7-9pm
Little Black Pearl
1060 East 47th Street