A new mural on the north side of Harvey City Hall on Broadway Avenue is done, and it is already turning heads on the block. Called the “Harvey Wall of Therapy,” the artwork features a swirling blue and white background, local characters, homes, wildlife, sunflowers and a depiction of the world, all meant to inject color and optimism into a stretch of downtown that has seen better days.
Artists completed the mural on August 10, according to the Chicago Tribune, capping off work that began in July. The piece was created by Golden Street LLC, an arts collective started by brothers Amoz Wright, Malachi Wright and Ira Wright, and it was paid for through an arts grant, per the Tribune's reporting. Just two days before the mural's completion, the group hosted a public “Final Paint Day” at Harvey City Hall, inviting residents to help put on the finishing touches, according to a Facebook video posted by the collective.
Sunflowers, a Gold Rock and Hidden Tributes
Near the bottom center of the mural sits a roughly 5-foot square rock outcropping, sprayed gold, that lead muralist Amoz Wright described as a starting point rather than a dead end, the Tribune reported. Elsewhere in the piece, the letter E in the word Harvey memorializes the late husband of Marguerite Wright, who contributed to the project. Marguerite Wright told the Tribune that people love the mural, and that drivers have honked and waved passing by.
Lamar Hawkins, who painted the mural alongside the Golden Street team, said local people may recognize someone depicted in the artwork, according to the same Tribune report. Ashlee Williams, who was born and raised in Harvey, said the mural left her feeling peace and pride for the community. “I think the city needs it,” Williams said, per the Tribune.
Students Helped Shape the Design
Amoz Wright, who taught art at Thornton Township High School in 2025, asked his students for design ideas before the mural took shape, the Tribune's report notes. Students suggested a vibrant, colorful design that would welcome people to Harvey, an idea that ultimately became central to the finished piece. The mural is intended for Harvey residents and for the city's future, per the Tribune.
The Wright brothers and Golden Street LLC have been busy well beyond Broadway Avenue. Just weeks before finishing the Harvey mural, Amoz and Malachi Wright unveiled a unity-focused community mural at the Kennicott Fieldhouse in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, painted in partnership with the Chicago Park District, according to The Citizen Newspaper Group. Golden Street LLC also runs the Golden Street Underground Market, a Black-owned creative gallery and event space along the Pedway on Randolph Street in downtown Chicago, according to F Newsmagazine.
Building on the Harvey World Wall
The Wall of Therapy stands directly across the street from the Harvey World Wall, an 80-foot mural on the side of the Harvey Boxing Club that Amoz Wright also helped create, according to the Tribune. That earlier project was created in 2020 and 2021 and was paid for by Harvey-born actor LaRoyce Hawkins, known for playing Officer Kevin Atwater on NBC's Chicago P.D. Reel Chicago reported that the World Wall brought together five Black artists — Amoz Wright, David Israel, Nefertiti Abdulmalik, Dante Lyles and Caleb M. Harris — who each painted an interconnected section of the piece.
Hawkins has continued funneling resources into his hometown well beyond that mural. He established the Be Powerful initiative and Hood Development campaign, directing proceeds from clothing sales to local organizations including Restoration Ministries in Harvey, according to Forbes. Lead muralist Amoz Wright, for his part, holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from DePaul University, studied at Australian Catholic University and has designed television set pieces for Showtime's The Chi while mentoring high school artists, per his own biography.
Art Against a Backdrop of Economic Strain
The new mural's message of optimism lands in a city that has weathered decades of hardship. Harvey's population fell 21.5% between 2010 and 2020, a loss of 5,558 residents that marked the sharpest decline among 22 predominantly Black Chicago-area municipalities, according to a Chicago Crusader analysis of census data. As of the 2020 Census, Harvey's population stood at 20,324, with Black residents making up 53.6% and Hispanic or Latino residents making up 39.1% of the city.
The decline traces back in part to 1986, when major industrial employers including Allis-Chalmers and the Wyman-Gordon Company closed, and the landmark Dixie Square Mall shuttered, according to an Elevate Energy report. Mayor Christopher J. Clark said in July 2024 that nearly a third of city residents live below the poverty line, and he warned that rising property tax burdens in Cook County suburbs threaten to displace residents and turn Black communities into what he called ghost towns, per the Chicago Defender. Against that backdrop, the Wall of Therapy and its neighbor across Broadway Avenue represent a deliberate attempt to bring visible color and pride back to a downtown that has weathered decades of loss.
