RIP, Frankie Knuckles Memorial Mural Removed In Logan Square

By Justin Freeman in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 6, 2015 4:09PM

Frankie Knuckles tribute wall by BboyB, Des, Flash, Mugs, Slugs, Skol, Statik. This graffiti mural honors Chicago music legend Frankie Knuckles. The Rooftop wall at Fullerton and California Ave. in Logan Square Chicago can be seen easily seen from the Blue Line, midway between the California and Logan Square stops. Shot and edited by BboyB

On Friday, the Chicago Reader reported that the mural of Frankie Knuckles in Logan Square was being buffed over and a recent ride on the Blue Line revealed that the mural has been completely removed. We called X-it European Clothing and they confirmed that someone had gone over it. This would be the second time in about a year and a half that we’ve had to say goodbye to the house music legend.

Frankie Knuckles died in March 2014. Wrought with sorrow, the Artistic Bombing Crew painted a mural in honor of his memory atop the X-it European Clothing building a few months after he passed away. The mural became a community artistic fixture and became part of people’s commutes as they travelled around the city on the Blue Line. We recently chose it as one of our best pieces of street art.

According to the Reader, the problem is with the building itself. It has lingering water issues, which forced the occupants to cover the mural with cement to limit the damage. In response, local artists have launched a GoFundMe page to pay for a new Frankie Knuckles mural.

For the best street art list we wrote about the Frankie Knuckles mural, “Street art, for the most part, is ephemeral. It’s kinda always been like that though.” Same as it ever was.