(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A new documentary, which debuts this week, gives a behind-the-scenes look at a suburban mural project inspired by the aftermath of the 2022 Highland Park Fourth of July Parade shooting.
“[I] was just heartbroken and felt really lost for the community,” said Laura Reich.
Reich, an art dealer, was recalling where she was when she heard about the 2022 mass shooting in her home town of Highland Park. Soon enough, Reich said she knew she wanted to return and give back somehow. This is how the Highwood International Mural Festival was born.
“Thinking that public art, maybe, could help out the area and everyone there,” she said. “As long as we got the community to support, it would be something beautiful that would change lives.”
Filmmaker CJ Kozloff, Reich's fiancé, decided to pick up his camera and document 12 artists from around the world, who transformed Highwood — which is less than a 10-minute drive from Highland Park — into a canvas for public art.
“I kind of saw it happening when I was there, and I started interviewing people, and just randomly miking,” he said. “I put all these people in my film, and seeing and hearing all their reactions to what we did was magical.”
SEE THE MURALS: Use the map below to find each mural’s location.
Kozloff said the reaction to the public art was overwhelming.
“Children to people in their 80s, and the business owners who took risks with us, not really knowing what they were going to get into,” he said. “The amount of people that reached out to us to paint their businesses afterwards was crazy.”
The one-hour documentary will debut at Highland Park’s Wayfarer Theaters on Thursday.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok