An Aurora City Council committee has recommended another downtown mural from a nationally-known artist.
Aldermen on the Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee last week recommended a certificate of appropriateness for a two-story mural on a brick wall on the south side of Mundy Park, between Broadway and the Water Street Mall, downtown.
The mural would actually be on two walls facing the park and The Venue, a downtown music facility.
“It’s beautiful,” said Ald. Patty Smith, 8th Ward, committee chair. “It’s going to add so much to that area.”
The full City Council will consider the certificate of appropriateness at the May 7 Committee of the Whole meeting.
The bulk of the mural would be on the first floor building wall, a 60-foot-wide mural featuring musicians that honors Aurora’s blues music past. The top of the mural would actually be on a second wall above and behind the main wall.
Jen Byrne, Aurora’s Public Art director, said adding the second wall will complete the mural, and “expand to bring the eyes to the sky.”
Smith said the second wall “does complete the work.”
“There are not a lot of murals on two walls,” Byrne added. “It adds to the attraction.”
The artist chosen for the mural is Max Sansing, a Chicago-based fine artist and one of the city’s most prolific and talented muralists, city officials said.
Byrne referred to Sansing as an “Afro futurist,” whose “distinctive style” fuses the color-drenched dynamism of street art with the technical elegance of photorealism.
Sensing was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side and has been committed to supporting the community, officials said. He is involved with a number of youth programs that try to expand arts opportunities in underserved areas.
According to his website, his work has been featured in gallery shows and special events in Chicago, New York, Miami and other cities.
“His work is all over the world,” Byrne said.
Byrne said if the certificate of appropriateness is granted, Sansing hopes to start the work in May.
“This looks outstanding,” said Ald. Carl Franco, 5th Ward.
slord@tribpub.com
