As artists look to add their touch to Evanston’s ever-changing landscape, blank walls on Central Street have become increasingly hard to come by. On the sides of restaurants, in alleyways and even on residents’ garage doors, locals have transformed the urban district into a canvas, reflecting the artistic community and its interests.
More than 75 murals have been painted in Evanston in the last decade, through public projects, like Art Encounter’s Evanston Mural Arts Program, and personal ones, like Teresa Parod’s art walk.
The neighborhood around Central Street is home to around half of these newer murals, with 10 on the street itself.
“Part of our vision for Central Street is to be a vibrant, eclectic and artistic neighborhood business district,” said Angela Shaffer, community director of Central Street Evanston. “We’re always trying to lean into the arts whenever we can. I think we’ve used up every wall space possible now in our district.”
“Bookended” by the Evanston Art Center and the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian, Central Street was artsy to begin with, Shaffer said. The area is home to art galleries, the Evanston School of Ballet and the Music Conservatory of Illinois, allowing for all kinds of creative expression, she said.
Central Street Evanston helped sponsor three murals in collaboration with Art Encounter’s Evanston Mural Arts Program, which pairs local organizations, schools and business districts with professional artists to create large-scale public works.
Most of the murals, however, were purchased by businesses, Shaffer said. Out of nowhere, murals seemed to pop up everywhere, representing both the number of artists and the general desire for art in the area, she said.
Alex Bradley Cohen, the cousin of one of the owners of The Fat Shallot, which opened in 2023, wanted one that “reflected the ‘new’ Central Street,” he said.
Cohen chose to highlight the street’s social scene and capture the feeling of the neighborhood, he said. In vibrant colors, he painted fictional characters eating, going to the bookstore and waving hello.
Two other muralists paid homage to the community through their art: Screenprinter Jay Ryan painted the side of DeSalvo’s Pizza with cartoon characters, and local art students depicted iconic Evanston gathering spaces at the corner of Central Street and Harvey Avenue.
The latter mural is on the side of Kate Weber’s business, Great Harvest Bread Co. She wants to get another group of students to repaint the space and has gotten approval from the instructor who previously brought students there, she said.
Weber said she wants the new mural to feature one of the business’ catchphrases — “all we knead is love” or “bake the world a better place.”
Spools of Thread is another mural on the street that spotlights the business adjacent to it. In bright colors, Parod painted sewing materials on the wall beside a sewing shop.
Parod has “definitely had her touch on the district,” Shaffer said. Central Street Evanston helped fund her mural of a fiddler that she painted with her niece, Ani Kramer, in an alley on Central Street.
Parod’s brother made a print of his friend playing the fiddle 30 years ago, before he died when his daughter was 5 years old, she said. She often helps Parod with her artwork, but this time, it was Kramer who took the lead, Parod said.
During the pandemic, Parod painted murals on her neighbors’ garages, creating an art walk in their alley near Central Street. All in all, she has painted over 40 murals in Evanston, she said.
Each one of the murals on Central Street tells a story, Shaffer said. The stories are different, she said, but they all have something to do with community in one way or another.
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