Massive preservation project underway to save one of the oldest public art pieces in Chicago area

“I grew up in this building, in many ways,” said Rosen, who has been involved with the union since 1984. “It’s hard to say goodbye.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many of UE’s operations have been conducted remotely. Gentrification has also transformed the neighborhood, making parking impractical for employees. The sale to the apartment developer was finalized last week.

“We were able to get a fair sale price for the building,” Rosen said. “We can invest that money back in organizing unorganized workers, which is what we’ve been doing very successfully for years.”

Last year, UE contacted the Chicago Public Art Group, which Weber co-founded, to find a way to salvage the mural. After launching the fundraising campaign, the project began Feb. 16.

While painting the mural, both artists juggled full-time jobs – Weber was a teacher, and Guerrero worked in a factory. It took over a year to complete. The pair spent months studying the inner workings of the union, hoping to capture the dogged spirit of the organization.

For Weber, the most striking piece of the mural depicts a suit-clad industrialist clutching a safe, sounded by symbols of oppression and violence – the military, guns and even a member of the Ku Klux Klan. A group of workers encircles them with fists in the air.

“The enemy is an idea, it’s a corporate entity and a societal role,” Weber said. “You’re fighting a part of the system, and we tried to represent that. We did our best.”

The artists were only paid $2,000 to cover the cost of paint, brushes and scaffolding.

“It’s almost a mind-blowing contrast between how much saving the section is costing, and the willingness to do that, and how it got done in the first place,” Weber said. “It’s very touching.”

Donations are still needed to preserve the work, the organizations said. The $200,000 raised is only enough to remove about 75% of the mural. Even saving small sections is an extremely complicated process, according to Healey.

Conservators must carefully cut out the backings of the walls before carving around the images. Some of the plaster pieces, which weigh hundreds of pounds, have to be hoisted out of the building.

“If we had been able to look into the future, we might have wanted to do it on panels,” Weber said with a laugh.

Some sections that were already removed were painted on load-bearing walls, so workers had to construct makeshift supports to ensure the integrity of the building.

“That was much more complicated, and we had to put another bearing component to make it structurally solid,” Healey said.

The fragmented pieces will be displayed in the office of the Chicago Teachers Union, as well as a UE building in Erie, Pennsylvania. UE plans to rent office space from the CTU, allowing the mural to remain visible to members.

It’s a comforting thought for Rosen.

“What’s hardest is leaving the mural,” Rosen said. “To think about, all of the other folks who have struggled to build the union, and make a better life for working people, those ideas would be with you as you walked in to start your workday.”