CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Depictions of a grim-faced Mayor Lori Lightfoot guarding the lakefront and other popular places have gone viral as memes. The Mayor, herself, is smiling about them.
Mayor Lightfoot said hat’s off to Danny Martinez, the artist who first came up with the first of the memes, showing a glowering Mayor Lightfoot superimposed in front of a police barrier blocking access to the lakefront and its jogging paths.
Since then, there’ve been variations, and the Mayor said she’s enjoyed them.
"I have enjoyed them and I have been getting them from people all over the city, and really they have kind of caught on, so people are even sending them from all across the country," Lightfoot said.
She said she loves them - seriously.
"In any difficult time, I think we have got to have a sense of balance, and humor is a big part of it. So I have actually enjoyed them and we have acted out a few in my household at night, which I will keep to myself," Lightfoot said, smiling through that answer.
A post shared by ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ (@whereslightfoot) on Mar 28, 2020 at 10:35pm PDT
“What it shows is the creativity of people in this city and in this region that, despite these dire circumstances — and this virus is deadly serious — that we can also see the lighter side of life, what makes us a vibrant and interesting and innovative and creative communit, so I love them."
Perhaps the most inventive of the memes has the Mayor glaring at the people in the famous Georges Seurat painting popularly called “Sunday in the Park.” In the next frame, the people are gone.
Martinez said he has been posting more images to a dedicated Instagram account - @whereslightfoot. He told WGN it helps him fill the time as he stays inside his Lincolnwood home, following the state’s stay-at-home order.
“It’s been keeping me busy, and I think it’s been keeping me busy for all the right reasons,” he said.
Because beyond spreading a bit of light online, Martinez said the posts actually reinforce the key message from health experts and even Lightfoot herself: stay inside.
“I like it because not only am I bringing humor to Chicago, all of Illinois, but to spread awareness because at the end of the day, that’s the most important message,” he said