The Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side has been home to many famous residents over the years, including the singer Nat King Cole. He moved from Alabama to Chicago with his family in 1923 as part of the Great Migration when he was still just a child, and they made Bronzeville their home. So it was fitting that Cole’s portrait would be the first to grace the side of a building as part of the Bronzeville Legends initiative.
The mural at 4301 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive features an enlarged 1947 photo of Cole from the Library of Congress by photographer William P. Gottlieb, and it has been a fixture in the neighborhood since it was installed in 2014. But Cole’s presence, at least at this location, may be coming to an end.
After standing vacant for a few years, the building has a new owner, and her plans may not involve retaining the mural. This has led to concern among neighbors, as well as the mural’s creator, the artist Chris Devins. It’s become controversial enough that 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell has tried to help referee the situation.
“It’s unfortunate that she didn’t put out an alert to the community,” Dowell said of the building’s owner, Lisa Collins, who declined to speak to the Tribune as of press time. “Now this has a life of its own on social media, so I’ve tried to correct the narrative for her, and hopefully the community will settle down and support her efforts.”
Collins is the local owner of a daycare center. According to Dowell, “her business has been growing, so she and her husband purchased this building. It’s not a landmarked building or on the National Register of Historic Places, but it is viewed as a historic building in the Bronzeville community because of its connection to T.K. Lawless, who was a well-known doctor.”
Lawless was a dermatologist of national renown who opened his practice there in the 1920s. He also taught at Northwestern University and is known for inventing new treatments for leprosy, syphilis and other skin conditions. He was the first Black member of Chicago’s Board of Health. “My aunt and my mom, everyone used to go to him,” said Devins.
The building is about 100 years old. According to Dowell, when Collins purchased it, an evaluation revealed some masonry problems. “So she has to take care of that. And in order to make those repairs, the mural had to come down. I support the owner and understand her need to make the building safe.
“But at the same time, I support the community’s concern. People drive by 43rd St. and King Drive and your eye is immediately drawn to the Nat King Cole photo. So I understand the sentiment of the community,” who have an emotional connection to the mural. “It’s a community that wants to honor its historic legacy.”
Devins said he and Collins met earlier this week to see if they could reach a meeting of the minds. “I explained that ultimately I had no complaints with Black business people such as themselves investing in the community and understood if they wanted to do a new or different mural after fixing the building up.” He was also told that Collins planned to “convene a small panel of judges and take ideas from local artists for a mural there, that includes Nat King Cole, after they finish the outside repairs on the building. I left feeling as if we had substantially reduced the tension between us.”
Several of Devins’ signature murals are in Bronzeville and they feature enlarged black-and-and-white photographs that he said give a “vintage” look, featuring fine art photography rather than a painted mural.
He said the project started in 2012 as a public art initiative called Bronzeville Legends. “My intention was to create a series of murals that highlighted the identity of the neighborhood. I went around for about a year speaking to residents and stakeholders and business owners about what they felt the identity of Bronzeville was.” After several community meetings, a vote was taken and Nat King Cole was selected for the first mural. “That’s when it went in the direction of highlighting Bronzeville’s historical identity.”
Though he feels strongly about keeping the mural in its current location, “I know the current owner of the building is somebody who has invested in the community,” Devins said. “I’m not trying to jump on her or anything. And of course she has a right to do whatever she wants with the building. But at the same time, I have to advocate for the landmark.”
If he’s not asked to restore the Cole mural, Devins said he will consider relocating it. Other business owners have reached out to offer their locations. “I’ve had many offers already,” he said. “Everybody wants me to put that mural on their building.”
Another of Devins’ murals features Gwendolyn Brooks. That one is across the street from the Cole mural, on a building that is home to the clothing retailer Bronzeville Boutique By Lady Mocha, which is located at the graystone where Brooks lived. The location is also where she wrote the poem “kitchenette building.”
The Bronzeville Boutique is owned by Treva Johnson Salaam, whose husband, William Salaam, first noticed the mural was coming down over the weekend.
“This corner is special because it celebrates Martin Luther King, Nat King Cole but also Muddy Waters, because 43rd Street is Honorary Muddy Waters Drive. This corner is very special to us in the community, so I was extremely disturbed to see it coming down. What better can you replace it with than what is already up there? When you come to Bronzeville, you see pictures from our history.”
Devins said the mural project centers the collective memory of the neighborhood. “If Bronzeville doesn’t highlight its hyperlocality with its current unique identity, it’s in danger of just becoming the south South Loop.
“Without a collective memory, a neighborhood ceases to have community. So these are scenes from Bronzeville’s family photo album. There’s no controversy. We’re just trying to do good for the community. It’s a very loving and touching tribute to the neighborhood and its amazing historical legacy.”
