Kane County Reporter

Unity Gateway Mural, Aurora Downtown’s East Side gateway mural is complete. Aurora artists Laura Lynne and Catalina Diaz started working on the mural in early August, and they completed it in early September with assistance from about 45 community volunteers.

The mural is located on the east wall of Mangkuk Restaurant, 210 E. Galena Blvd. 

The mural design combines a quilt analogy to show that Aurora is a city of many people and cultures combined together. It also takes elements of art nouveau, Prairie style, and art deco architecture from downtown Aurora such as seen on The Mayan and Keystone buildings. The mural features mostly purples and blues with “Aurora” painted in gold letters. It also includes iconic Aurora symbols like mastodons, the Northgate sign star, the Paramount sign, and the new pedestrian bridge connecting the East and West sides. 

Community members signed up to assist with mural painting mid-summer and they included about a dozen members of Girl Scout troop 709. 

The mural was selected by Aurora Downtown after the downtown nonprofit publicized an RFP for a unity gateway mural earlier this year. It was sponsored by the group’s Streetscape committee. 

“We’re excited to add another welcoming gateway mural as an entrance to our vibrant downtown,” said Marissa Amoni, manager of Aurora Downtown. 

This is the second gateway mural sponsored by the group. The first mural, completed by artist Josh Schultz last fall, is on the southwest corner of Lake Street and Galena Boulevard.