Chicago murals: Painting Berwyn mural, Isaac Galvan thought about opportunities he didn't have as a kid

As Chicago artist Isaac Galvan painted a giant mural on a wall of Berwyn’s Youth Crossroads building, he says he was thinking about growing up.

“When I was a kid, I was a graffiti writer," he says. "That was my after-school activity."

Galvan grew up partly in Berwyn, and the man who connected him with Youth Crossroads for the organization’s newest mural was a longtime friend of his mother. He says he didn't have the opportunities that places like Youth Crossroads offer kids, like tutoring, leadership and job training.

For the organization’s 50th anniversary, Galvan painted the mural, which is 90 feet wide and 15 feet tall and covers an entire wall. He says it portrays the success he hopes Youth Crossroads will help students find.

Titled “Youthful Expressions,” “it represents Youth Crossroads' three core pillars of service: guide, support and inspire,” Galvan says.

Galvan used his graffiti skills to move into doing murals and studio artwork. Two high school students from Youth Crossroads helped him paint the mural this summer.

Josephine DiCesare, the organization's executive director, says the mural “shines a light on the paths that youth can take.” Students “see people who look like them” in the new artwork, she says.

The mural features 22 portraits, many of them students growing up and moving through school. The portraits are abstract, not representative of anyone Galvan says he knows.

On the far left of the mural, the colors are dark, the expressions are somber and the kids are playing chess, which Galvan says represents facing challenges, seeking guidance and direction and creating a strategy for approaching life.

“We gotta have a strategy. That’s something I didn't have growing up,” Galvan says.

He says his love of hip-hop and graffiti kept him away from gangs and drugs. An uncle took him to libraries and museums, nurturing his interest in literature, philosophy and fine art.

"I started going to museums and was really blown back," he says. "Another world just opened up to me."

The mural also includes warmer, more colorful images he says represent a classroom setting and the engagement, support and interaction students can find there.

“The kids are working with the adults, teachers, social workers, youth counselors, they’re more engaged,” Galvan says. These images tell students, “Hey, you’re not alone. Let’s work together on this and I'll be here to support you.”

On the far right, the students wear graduation caps and gowns under a blue sky and surrounded by mentors and monarch butterflies.

“The figures are a lot more jovial, happier, and the disposition is positive,” Galvan says. “They’re looking forward. These kids are graduating. Butterflies, a big open sky — the possibilities are endless.”

Galvan says he painted the mural entirely by brush, working freehand — without a grid or image projected on the wall to guide him. He prefers an under-painting sketch to block in large figures, then he blocks in the color. He says he used a limited palate — seven colors — to intensify and change the mood as the mural traversed the wall.