
All photos and video copyright of IPaintMyMind
When PepsiCo in New York reached out to us about creating a custom mural for the new Pepsi offices in The Historic Old Post Office Building that straddles the Eisenhower Expressway, we were thrilled to get a project that was so perfectly suited for our Get Art, Give Back model.
There are growing numbers of great companies providing custom mural services, but at IPaintMyMind, every mural we help execute also funds FREE art programs in public schools.
It’s a really awesome mix of art and community involvement! And over the years, it’s been great to connect with companies like adidas, DocuSign, Capital One, LinkedIn, and more, to do exactly that.
That said, we thought it would be great to give a glimpse behind the process of executing a massive project like this with various stakeholders and various creative components. It was a lot of fun, and ahead, we dive right in!
Luckily, Clients Find Us Based On Fit
Over the years we’ve taken pride in developing great relationships with the artists, businesses, and schools we work with. Word of mouth has been our best friend, but our website also does a good job of attracting companies that are interested in art, innovation, and being part of their community.
Our art rentals, murals, and consulting projects have become known as differentiated from the more bland, stodgy, or generic art you can find with most art consultants. We stay busy publishing content like this to ensure companies that want to Get Art and Give Back can find us and learn about how we turn art into impact.
In this case, PepsiCo reached out to the IPaintMyMind Team via our Commission A Mural page and we were off to the races! I had such a fun time connecting with Roe and getting to know her over the course of multiple months coordinating this project.
But before we got to work, we had to nail down the theme.
The Theme for The Mural
I was excited to chat with the PepsiCo Team about the concept they envisioned because it was the perfect vibe for IPMM. The theme was ‘Chicago’s Multicultural Identity’ and the goal was to depict Chicago’s broad cultural history through people and landmarks. Immediately a scene of the lakefront, the ‘L” train and other iconic Chicago sights came to mind.
The mural was to be located on an 11ft x 54ft wall located between the open kitchen area and the incredible Gatorade buildout on the other side in the new PepsiCo offices on the 3rd floor of The Old Post Office Building, as part of a massive renovation and build out of the space, slated to open later this year.
The PepsiCo Team made it clear they were open to a mural made by a few artists, which immediately got our wheels turning about not only an aesthetic but an energetic fit that would produce something we could all be proud of.
Selecting The Artists
Once we had the creative brief from PepsiCo, we turned to our vast network of artists and muralists to propose options for PepsiCo to choose from. Mostly composed of Chicago-based artists, we ended up selecting Ruben Aguirre and Sam Kirk, whose styles are different but complementary, and a perfect blend for this mural.
IPaintMyMind has been lucky to work with both artists in various ways over the years. Sam Kirk first collaborated with IPMM when we had a gallery space, by holding a solo show including some massive original paintings. Since then, we’ve worked on print projects, t-shirt releases, and Sam even spent the last year plus serving on IPMM’s Board of Directors. As she works on various big projects in 2021, she is now serving as an Impact Advisor for IPMM, and it was exciting for us to bring Sam onto this project.
We also thought of our friend Ruben Aguirre, supporter and collaborator, who executed the massive 65ft exterior mural behind adidas’ flagship store in Wicker Park. It’s clearly visible from the Blue Line with millions of riders seeing the work every week.
Once we had the artists in place, we were ready to flesh out the vision.
Whether you’re a classroom teacher teaching art for the first time or an art teacher who could use a simple refresher, check...
March 27, 2023We love receiving artwork from our Shared Walls partners across the city, showing us what they’re up...
March 26, 2023At IPaintMyMind, we are super passionate about screen prints. When our founder, Evan La Ruffa, first started collecting art, he couldn’t...
March 24, 2023