An auto body shop in Chicago, Illinois recently partnered with a local artist to create a mural on its exterior, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
The mural was commissioned by Anthony Vula, owner of Chicago Auto Recon Body Shop, when his friend suggested having a mural painted on his store to detract graffiti artists. Vula sent out a message to the art community in his neighborhood by holding an event, where he met the artist of his mural, Matthew Jesiolowski.
Jesiolowski’s mural consists of four large squares, each filled with faces. It was his first piece with spray paint, having typically worked with acrylic paint on glass or canvas.
Vula holds apprenticeship programs at his shop for students interested in automotive work, but since the mural’s success, his shop also occasionally operates as a space for local artists to showcase their work and meet other businesses that could utilize their talent.
He now sees similarities between his work and that of an artist.
“We go through painstaking, 1,000-hour projects, sometimes 3,000 hours,” Vula stated. “We look at the car for the beauty that it is. That’s our creativity that’s going into that project.”
