{"id":970482,"date":"2026-07-31T03:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/970482\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T03:58:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T03:58:17","slug":"behind-the-bluebird-inside-shawn-bullens-newest-evanston-mural","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/970482\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the bluebird: Inside Shawn Bullen’s newest Evanston mural"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bluebird soars above the Lake Michigan shoreline, flying past beaches, harbors and familiar stretches of Chicago\u2019s lakefront. For muralist Shawn Bullen, the bird isn\u2019t just another detail. It\u2019s a tribute to his best friend.<\/p>\n

Nearly a decade after painting his first mural with the Evanston Mural Arts Program on the Metra embankment at Elmwood Avenue and Davis Street, Bullen has returned to create a companion mural piece immediately beside it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Invitation to reception for Bullen\u2019s mural. Credit: Provided by Shawn Bullen<\/p>\n

The new mural, which will be unveiled during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 13, continues the visual conversation Bullen began in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn every block in Evanston there\u2019s like a new little nook, and I think it\u2019s just something that we all take for granted,\u201d Bullen said. \u201cSo I just kind of figured, why not remind people?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The mural imagines the wall as a window. Facing west, Bullen said, it is painted as though the concrete has disappeared, revealing Lake Michigan and a continuous shoreline stretching from Chicago through Evanston.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bluebird perched above the lake is a tribute to Bullen\u2019s best friend, Chris, who died in a boating accident in 2010. It was the same weekend Bullen was supposed to paint his first professional mural alongside him, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris\u2019 mom, obviously devastated, got a call from the Coast Guard, and apparently, there was this little bluebird that was just chilling on the boat,\u201d Bullen said.<\/p>\n

\"\"The bluebird has become a recurring symbol in Bullen\u2019s work, honoring his late best friend, Chris. Credit: Alexia Sextou<\/p>\n

Chris\u2019 mother later took the bird in as a pet, Bullen said. Since his friend\u2019s death, the bluebird has become a recurring symbol in Bullen\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe paintings I make are usually in honor of my friends,\u201d Bullen said.<\/p>\n

Long before Bullen was painting murals across North America, he grew up in Hyde Park and was \u201creally involved in making art,\u201d he said.\u00a0He now lives in New York City.<\/p>\n

After becoming friends with various graffiti artists, Bullen said, he was drawn to the art form, which he described as \u201ca very exciting thing\u201d with \u201ca little element of danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before becoming a muralist, Bullen and his friends would climb into abandoned buildings and search for anywhere they could paint, he said. When Bullen was 18, he and his friends painted graffiti on the rooftop of a neighborhood produce market. After turning himself in, Bullen spent a night in jail before returning to the building to remove the graffiti.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext thing you know, I am getting the opportunity to clean it off,\u201d Bullen said. \u201cThe owner of the business was joking, kind of saying, \u2018If you had asked for permission, we could have let you do something nice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

To young Bullen\u2019s surprise, the produce market owner later offered Bullen the chance to paint one of his old trucks covered in graffiti. Bullen designed a mural featuring vegetables turned into characters, earning his first paid commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was pretty grateful for him. This <\/strong>started my career,\u201d Bullen said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Spray paint cans sit organized by color as Bullen works on his new mural in Evanston. Credit: Alexia Sextou<\/p>\n

Bullen soon joined City Year, a Chicago nonprofit where he helped paint community murals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking back, Bullen chuckled at some of his earliest work. He said the experience gave him opportunities to revisit those murals and improve them as his skills developed.<\/p>\n

After attending art school in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Bullen painted city-funded murals in Canada before deciding to spend much of his 20s traveling and painting wherever he could.\u00a0He accepted opportunities across North America, later completing murals in places including San Francisco and Mexico City.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it was paid or unpaid, I just painted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Bullen sorts through dozens of spray paint cans while working on his companion mural. He said he brings a wide range of colors to the site each day to build the mural layer by layer. Credit: Alexia Sextou<\/p>\n

Bullen said working with San Francisco\u2019s Arts Commission marked another turning point, as it allowed him to take on larger projects and devote more time to each piece.<\/p>\n

Returning to Evanston felt like revisiting an earlier chapter of his career, Bullen said. He first worked with Dustin Harris and Lea Pinsky, co-founders of the Evanston Mural Arts Program, through Rogers Park\u2019s Mile of Murals project before painting his first mural for the Evanston Mural Arts Program in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After returning last summer to touch up that mural, Bullen said, he was invited by Evanston Art Encounter to create the companion piece now taking shape beside it on Elmwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvanston\u2019s always one place I have enjoyed coming,\u201d Bullen said.<\/p>\n

Community-minded Evanston resident Bob Easter, who lives across from the concrete wall at 1570 Elmwood Ave., had long imagined what the blank embankment could become. After meeting Pinsky at a networking event, Easter approached Art Encounter with the idea of extending Bullen\u2019s original mural down the block.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I just got the idea of mixing kind of a boring concrete wall in front of our building that I walked by several times every day with Art Encounter\u2019s murals,\u201d Easter said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Muralist Shawn Bullen paints details into the CTA \u2018L\u2019 train featured in his companion mural, which depicts a continuous shoreline stretching from Chicago to Evanston. Credit: Alexia Sextou<\/p>\n

Over the following months, neighborhood residents, businesses and community partners came together to raise $35,000 to bring the project to life, Easter said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some very gracious friends, gracious and generous friends, and neighbors who contributed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Having worked with Bullen for more than 15 years, Pinsky said bringing him back to Elmwood was \u201can easy decision.\u201d When the opportunity arose to expand the Elmwood mural, she said there was little debate about who should paint it.<\/p>\n

\u201cShawn is extremely talented. He\u2019s got an intense attention to detail and he\u2019s also just a really kind-hearted, gentle soul,\u201d Pinsky said. \u201cSo, I said, \u2018Why don\u2019t we just call Shawn?\u2019 And everybody was in agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Bullen uses a spray can fitted with a specialized cap, which he said allows him to control the width and intensity of the paint as he adds details to his mural. Credit: Alexia Sextou<\/p>\n

The mural\u2019s greatest success would be simple: bringing joy to those who pass by and putting a smile on their faces, Easter said.<\/p>\n

Tim Henderson, an artist, poet and longtime friend of Bullen who goes by \u201cToaster,\u201d said Bullen\u2019s outgoing personality is what draws people into conversation wherever he paints.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the most sociable guy,\u201d Toaster said. \u201cPeople from all over the community are gonna come and talk to him. All of a sudden, he just kind of becomes friends with everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bullen said those simple interactions are among \u201cthe most meaningful\u201d parts of his work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While he was painting the Elmwood mural, he said, a woman stopped to tell him she had been having a terrible day before walking past the wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said to me that she got some bad news about somebody\u2019s health and that this mural made her day much better,\u201d Bullen said. \u201cThat is exactly why I\u2019m doing it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Toaster said Bullen is a really \u201csupportive\u201d friend and rarely misses his friend\u2019s open mic performances. The two have spent countless hours talking about art over the years, challenging and inspiring one another creatively.<\/p>\n

That same approach carries over to Bullen\u2019s murals, Toaster said. He spends long days painting while chatting with anyone who stops by.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get the chance to talk to him, bring that man some Gatorade,\u201d Toaster said. \u201cHe\u2019s been out there a really long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bluebird soars above the Lake Michigan shoreline, flying past beaches, harbors and familiar stretches of Chicago\u2019s lakefront.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":970483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[32],"tags":[376957,648,1032,1033,171,376960,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-970482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-art-encounter","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-evanston-mural-arts-program","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117012590500574178","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/970482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/970483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=970482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=970482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}