A new mural now covers the wall of New Life Community Church at 1410 N. Springfield Ave. in Humboldt Park, splashed in pinks, greens, blues and yellow accents, and painted in part by the very artist who once sat inside that building doing homework as a kid. Lead muralist Diamond Galindo grew up attending New Life Community Church's homework-help and children's programs, and she returned this year to lead the project that turns her old community's stories into public art.
The mural was created through The Heart Project, an organization run by Alecks Cruz that seeks to bring healing and empowerment to children and the community through art, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Cruz asked Galindo to compile community stories into the mural and to serve as its lead artist, even though, as Cruz said, he initially knew only that she was an artist. Galindo now lives in West Ridge but grew up at the Humboldt Park church, and she went on to graduate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
A Wall Built From Alumni Testimonies
The mural is based on stories collected from alumni of the church's programs, and per the Sun-Times report, Cruz found that former participants repeatedly described the church as welcoming, familial and supportive. That input shaped nearly every image on the wall. A basketball represents New Life's sports programs, while a book stands in for the church's educational focus and homework help, and the wall also depicts Humboldt Park three-flats alongside a mentor and student reading together on a bench.
Vines and flowers woven through the design symbolize the church's outreach and programs helping children grow while staying connected, the same report notes. Lettering across the mural reads “Beloved Community,” and a central female figure with blue hair and outstretched arms anchors the composition. Galindo also wove in her own trademark character, depicted as a bubbly pink-haired girl eating a Batman paleta, a signature touch she has carried across other public art projects around the city.
Funded Through a National Faith Storytelling Project
The mural was funded by a grant tied to the Rich in Faith project, a collaborative effort among five Chicago urban ministries that collects community faith stories and turns them into murals and other art. Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded a $50,000 grant to New Life Centers of Chicagoland to support the “Rich in Faith - A National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life II” project, according to Lilly Endowment Inc. The initiative asks participants to share how they experience God and what faith looks like for them, though Rich in Faith notes that participants do not need to belong to a church to take part.
New Life Community Church operates through New Life Centers, which has locations across five Chicago neighborhoods. Its programs at the Humboldt Park site include homework help, sports programs, jewelry making and a food pantry, and children enrolled in the summer programs helped create the mural itself. Executive Director Matt DeMateo has led New Life Centers since 2013, and he was named the Chicago Bears' 2025 NFL Inspire Change Changemaker Award recipient in December 2025 for his leadership in youth mentoring and community care, according to the Chicago Bears.
An Artist's Thank-You Note to Her Old Neighborhood
Galindo, who works under the artist name Diamond Doodle, described the finished mural as her thank-you note to the church and community that shaped her. She said the piece represents the community and is meant to bring hope and light to the block. Galindo has built a growing public profile beyond Humboldt Park; she appeared on WGN-TV's Daytime Chicago in May for her sneaker design work with Yollocalli Arts Reach, and she co-created the installation Xochi Baby with the Yollocalli Youth Council, a piece later selected for projection onto the Merchandise Mart facade for Art on the MART.
Cruz's own community-art work extends well beyond Humboldt Park too. The Heart Project partnered with TEDxOakParkYouth in April to run an interactive art-making experience at its annual youth conference, and Cruz and Galindo had already worked together weeks earlier, painting a mural at Piotrowski Park on the city's Southwest Side in July.
The New Life mural also joins a much older tradition. Humboldt Park has served as a center for community public art for more than 50 years, dating back to 1971 works such as Rompiendo las Cadenas by Chicago Public Art Group co-founder John Pitman Weber, pieces that art historians consider among the oldest surviving outdoor community murals in the nation, according to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Those early murals emerged in the neighborhood following the 1966 Division Street riots as expressions of community advocacy. Citywide, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events maintains an official Mural Registry tracking more than 400 registered public murals across Chicago, a scale that places the New Life wall among a long and still-growing local tradition.
