BMO invites Chicago student artists to create mural on unity and hope

Last month, BMO invited Chicago students to transform the plywood that covered BMO’s main Chicago branch during protests into beautiful works of art that communicate unity and hope. The murals represent the opportunity Chicagoans have to create a more inclusive and just community, together. Several Chicago not for profits will take part in producing artwork that will rotate into the BMO’s main branch windows over the next coming months as a visual reminder to continue our progress toward a more inclusive society.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Live kicked off the project and titled their art work “If I could Show the World.” The mural features 20+ students from CPS who were participating in CPS Lives artists’ residency program. The title is from a piece written by one of the students shown in the mural.

Next up was After School Matters, which had 15 young artists from communities across the city collaborated to create “Bubbling Up and Busting Out,” with their mentor instructors, Russell Weiss and Andrea Jablonski. Each teen shared an individual message in a bubble to inspire change, with the contrasting colors overlapping in the background symbolizing unity and coming together.

These murals will also be displayed in Chicago neighborhoods as they rotate out of the bank’s windows.

Learn about the creation of the first series of murals, and about how BMO is working to eliminate racial inequities across the organization and the financial services industry.