Title:  Patterns of our Past


Site:  2810 W. Fullerton, Chicago (no longer extant)


Artists:  Nina Smoot-Cain and Jose Luis Berrios


Community Participants: Luis Canales Rodriguez, Orlando Nieves, Debbie Linton, Deburah Oliver, Raymond Givhan, and Ermelinda Vega

Sponsors:  Chicago Mural Group and Youth Service Project


Year:  1982


Scale:  20 x 108 feet


Materials:  Acrylic on brick


Information:  The Logan Square neighborhood had gone through many changes the decade prior to the creation of Patterns of the Past. The changes were mostly for the worse, and there were many concerns for the future of Logan Square. In the hopes of improving the neighborhood and bringing the community together, dedicated neighbors and then Alderman, Richard Mell, put their efforts toward this mural.

The mural depicts the many ethnic groups of Logan Square working together and striving to improve their lives. In 1982, Logan Square was a community of many nationalities. The mural includes folk art patterns of the Puerto Rican, Scandinavian, Polish, Anglo-Germanic, and African-American cultures in patterned rays running toward the center of the mural. A pregnant woman, a bald man, a man in a suit, a teenage girl, and children are shown reaching up to a common goal: peace and unity. Behind the figures is a cityscape of Logan Square with many intricate rooftops and the eagle of the Illinois Centennial Monument.