"Walking With The Dead"
11/2015
11/2015
11”14”
Printed Images, Glue, Paper
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Today, we know Lincoln Park as home to a zoo, a conservatory, stores, restaurants, schools, and homes. But before that, Lincoln had had a vast history. It was first established in 1824, back when the area was primarily forest in which the US Army built a small post. In 1837, Chicago became established as a city with today’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as its northern boundary. Over time more settlers came, and the area began to transform into more of how the neighborhood is today.
Lincoln Park has changed a lot throughout the years and holds many memories and secrets. But what’s the biggest secret? Very few people know this, including Lincoln Park’s own residents, but during the mid-19th century, this area was a cemetery where more than 35,000 people were buried. What’s more, is that while many bodies were exhumed and relocated to other cemeteries, about 12,000 bodies still remain. That’s right, under all these homes and schools there are dead bodies buried.
This is why I decided to create this mural as both a tribute to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, and as something that will bring awareness, since most of the residents don’t even know about the cemetery they live over. I find it sad that people who lived in Lincoln Park have just been built over and forgotten about. No one deserves that, and this mural is to honor them and the lives they lived.
This mural is not only to honor and bring awareness to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, but also to bring the community together. Right now, Lincoln Park’s community is pretty torn. For example in the election for Alderman, the votes were split almost exactly 50/50. This means the community has very strong opposing sides, so this mural is supposed to remind them to step back and remember that we are all the same and to help them come together. As grim as it in, in the end we will all die and be buried in the same Earth together. Just like the people before us who were buried in Lincoln Park. So, instead of arguing and being against each other, they should spend time together and live their lives to the fullest.
I chose to mimic the style of Prehistoric cave paintings in my mural because a lot of Prehistoric art dealt with the the spiritual world. People from Prehistory believed that spirits and live people were basically the same and could still communicate. While I’m not so sure about the bodies buried in Lincoln Park communicating with the current residents, I do think that the people who have passed are the same as the people who are alive. I also mimicked the colors used at that time, or rather the lack of colors- my mural is only black and white to make it more simple and to show, even more so, how we are all the same.
Lincoln Park has changed a lot throughout the years and holds many memories and secrets. But what’s the biggest secret? Very few people know this, including Lincoln Park’s own residents, but during the mid-19th century, this area was a cemetery where more than 35,000 people were buried. What’s more, is that while many bodies were exhumed and relocated to other cemeteries, about 12,000 bodies still remain. That’s right, under all these homes and schools there are dead bodies buried.
This is why I decided to create this mural as both a tribute to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, and as something that will bring awareness, since most of the residents don’t even know about the cemetery they live over. I find it sad that people who lived in Lincoln Park have just been built over and forgotten about. No one deserves that, and this mural is to honor them and the lives they lived.
This mural is not only to honor and bring awareness to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, but also to bring the community together. Right now, Lincoln Park’s community is pretty torn. For example in the election for Alderman, the votes were split almost exactly 50/50. This means the community has very strong opposing sides, so this mural is supposed to remind them to step back and remember that we are all the same and to help them come together. As grim as it in, in the end we will all die and be buried in the same Earth together. Just like the people before us who were buried in Lincoln Park. So, instead of arguing and being against each other, they should spend time together and live their lives to the fullest.
I chose to mimic the style of Prehistoric cave paintings in my mural because a lot of Prehistoric art dealt with the the spiritual world. People from Prehistory believed that spirits and live people were basically the same and could still communicate. While I’m not so sure about the bodies buried in Lincoln Park communicating with the current residents, I do think that the people who have passed are the same as the people who are alive. I also mimicked the colors used at that time, or rather the lack of colors- my mural is only black and white to make it more simple and to show, even more so, how we are all the same.
