2003 NB |
|
The
chain link fence that wrestles overgrowth from the adjacent lot
also encircles one of the great stages of the Chicago blues. On summer
nights in the 1950s, Muddy Waters used to gather a star-studded ensemble
on his front yard here and fill the streets with the strains of his brand of blues.
Since then,
the house was abandoned, boarded up, and made serial appearances on the
city's demolition list. In 1999, neighborhood leaders hired an artist to
paint murals of Muddy Waters' life on the boards in the windows, and the
house was featured in the book Unexpected
Chicagoland as an example of creative recovery of neighborhood
pride. When I went to the house on assignment for the Chicago
Tribune's Squandered Heritage series, I found the murals gone and
the lawn strewn with litter. Still, a historical marker placed
by the Tribune--and reported occupancy by a Waters relative--may
be enough to stave off demolition. As the authors write in Unexpected
Chicagoland, the neighborhood's "unusual approach [of installing the
artistic murals] has bought time: until the murals fade and the boards
warp and fall, the house will be less vulnerable to arson, squatters, and
the elements." -NB
-More
about the Muddy Waters house from ChicagoTribute.org
-More about
Muddy Waters from MuddyWaters.com,
Rolling
Stone, and PBS'
"American Masters."
-See also:
Unexpected Chicagoland
from The New Press (including mistakenly reversed photo of the murals) |
