Access Family Health Society is a local clinic here in Chicago Heights located at 152 W Lincoln Hwy, Chicago Heights, IL 60411 it is a source of many people in the community’s healthcare. The mural was created by Aaliyah Lachel’e –or Peanutbuddarart as she goes by on social media– in May of 2024 with the assistance of friends. According to the Access website, they had this commissioned as the third installment in a larger art initiative made to honor the diversity of the communities that Access has served over the years. In doing so, they attempt to bring the community together.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Lachel’e about the mural and the process behind it. Lachel’e is a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, majoring in drawing and painting with a focus on narrative works. She currently sells her art, comics, and books she has written and illustrated. Lachel’e grew up here, in Chicago Heights, through her childhood. Part of the reason why she undertook this project, she claims, is because she notices a severe lack of local artworks.
Someone at the Access Clinic reached out to Lachel’e due to an older mural she had made on the Old Plank Trail for the city. Unfortunately, the mural has since been covered up.
The Access mural was funded through a grant with a budget of $25,000. Lachel’e had to submit an application dictating how she would make use of the funds. However, for such a big project involving painting a majority of the outside of the clinic she realized she would need help. Lachel’e told me “I asked (…) all of my artsy, fartsy friends if they were available (…) I factored in how much I would pay them into the budget (…) but because the project ended up costing so much, it only really covered their transport expenses”.
Her team of painters included Taylor Bullock, J. E. Paeth, Summer Shin, Joel Jarquin, Kaili Merrick, Tahja Gresham, Jada Shields, Eddy Barber-Rozema, and Theresa Hammons, as noted on Lachel’e’s website.
The process required multiple drafts for what the mural would look like with the clinic wanting certain things to be pictured. Eventually, they choose for one side of the mural to depict a healthcare provider and a patient. Access also wanted the mural to show the four seasons and some landmarks of Chicago Heights, those being Lincoln Highway and Bloom High School. “They ended up deciding on Bloom High School since it was a sort of neutral entity and they didn’t want any, like, governmental buildings” Lachel’e told me.
“A few hours in the sun is nothing for an end result like the one we have. It was a long time coming, and a very painstaking process, but the result was well worth the work and the wait,” Lachel’e notes on her website.
