Highwood, Highland Park moving forward with public-art plans; ‘It becomes that destination where people want to … see all the murals'

Chicago Tribune

10-07-2025

Highwood's Mural Festival last year launched the city into what one former official dreams of as a new art-filled era for the community, and the project's success has become a 'proof of concept' for other neighboring municipalities, officials and organizers said.
Highland Park, the original planned location for the mural project, has since amended its ordinances to be more mural-friendly, and will discuss extending murals into part of its exterior grant program, according to James Lynch, executive director of the Arts Center Highland Park.
It's a vindication for two of the main drivers of the project — Laura 'Lulu' Reich, an art curator and Highland Park native, and CJ 'Koz' Kozloff, who has an extensive background in videography and the art world. They said they're big advocates for any community bringing artwork to its walls.
Reich had originally reached out to Lynch several years ago about bringing murals to Highland Park, but Lynch said a 'glitch' in the city's ordinances, where murals were still considered as advertising, temporarily put off the endeavor.
That's where Eric Falberg, at the time a Highwood alderman and president of Celebrate Highwood, jumped in. Lynch had been working with Highwood on a separate project, and he pitched the idea for murals. It moved forward quickly.
'I really have to commend the City Council and Celebrate Highwood,' Lynch said. 'It took a lot of vision to say yes to the plan.'
Falberg sees the murals as an opportunity to breathe new life into the city, making it a destination for art tourism. Beyond the dozen pieces painted during last year's mural fest, Falberg said the campaign is far from over. The city plans to add one or two more murals every year, and make Highwood the Midwest version of Wynwood Walls in Miami, where street art murals draw crowds.
'You get to a certain threshold, I think it takes on a life of its own, and it becomes that destination where people want to come up and see all the murals,' Falberg said.
Lynch said the initial delay was something of a missed opportunity for Highland Park, but the city has been moving forward with its own efforts, tailored to its specific community and attitudes.
Bringing about the project required extensive coordination and investment between local officials, organizations, businesses and artists. Lynch called it a 'perfect storm,' with Highwood's eagerness to move forward and Reich's and Kozloff's creative expertise.
Reich had a similar assessment. It takes 'a lot of trust and approvals' from officials, and 'creativity and manpower' from artists.
By Falberg's measure, Highwood was uniquely positioned to move forward with the project. While other municipalities may struggle with too many hands in the pot, Highwood is 'lean and mean,' he said, more 'adventurous' and willing to give creative leeway to the artists.
Both artists and officials agreed that such artworks provide a variety of community benefits, from the aesthetic to the economic.
Now a former alderman, Falberg looks back on the project with satisfaction. The reactions have been positive, even surprisingly so, he admitted. People have spoken to him repeatedly about how much they've loved the works. For Reich, who was born and raised in the area and plans to return again from New York, it's been an 'incredible' experience.
Kozloff also spoke glowingly about the response, noting how much more welcoming the community has been compared to the Big Apple, and how impactful it was to see the direct impact of art.
The couple has spent countless hours and weeks travelling back and forth to Highwood from New York to work on the murals. This week, they got to see the completion of the most recent addition to the collection — Highwood's name written out in colorful balloons escaping from a doorway.
If Reich and Kozloff, along with officials like Lynch and Falberg, have their way, it'll be only the beginning.