Updated 4/25 at 1:30pm with comment from @38slugs and at 8:14pm with comment from the Frankie Knuckles Foundation…
For the second time since his passing in 2014, a Chicago public mural to the legendary DJ and producer Frankie Knuckles has been destroyed, and nobody knows who did it or why.
The mural was part of a series of murals in Chicago’s West Loop, featuring Frankie Knuckles and another late Chicago music icon, Juice WRLD.
5 Mag extensively covered the creation of the Frankie Knuckles mural, which was commissioned by the Frankie Knuckles Foundation and unveiled on Frankie Knuckles Day, August 25, 2018. The mural replaced an earlier mural, composed shortly after Frankie passed away in Logan Square after the latter had to be removed to enact building repairs.
5 Mag’s Czarina Mirani captured the artists composing the Frankie Knuckles mural five years ago, from 5 Mag’s Instagram:
Block Club’s Melody Mercado contacted both the city and the property’s owner, both of which denied engaging in the act of vandalism. Chicago’s Department of Streets and Sanitation told Mercado that they cover graffiti with white paint, not colored, and use paint sprayers, not rollers.
Union Pacific, which owns the viaduct, told Mercado that the railroad did not paint over the mural or authorize anyone to do so.
The murals located at 815 W. Hubbard Street frequently attracted both locals and out of town visitors who would stop for photographs in front of just about the only place that honors the Chicago music legends in a visible, public-facing manner.
One of the original artists, Mike Slugs, commented that the mural “was in terrible shape for quite some time. It was impossible to do upkeep. @revisecmw and I fixed it a couple of times. Not much was left visible on the FK MURAL. The Juice WRLD mural started to get the same treatment. Whoever buffed it, shit brown, replaced one eyesore with another. But at least Frankie is no longer being disrespected. We’ve done this mural twice, we’ll do it again!”
Just two weeks ago, a city commission granted preliminary landmark status to a building in the West Loop at 306 S. Jefferson Street — the site of the legendary Warehouse where Frankie Knuckles held his first Chicago residency and where house music was born.
Reached for comment, Frederick Dunson of the Frankie Knuckles Foundation said “We are trying to gather information as to what happened with the murals. Of course we are in complete shock but until we have all the details we are not in a position to make a comment.”
