A stucco wall outside a Skokie pilates studio is now covered in hydrangeas, peonies, liatris, rudbeckia and a red admiral butterfly, the work of a nationally recognized Detroit muralist. The mural sits at the corner of Church Street and Crawford Avenue, on a strip mall.
The artist behind it, Louise Jones, works under the name Ouizi and has built an international reputation creating large-scale flower murals, with pieces in the collections of the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute for the Arts and the Smithsonian Archives, according to the Chicago Tribune. The Record North Shore reported that Jones completed the Skokie project in July. “Flower murals made her name,” the Tribune noted, and Jones told the paper she wanted to paint “a subject unique to herself” that expressed a desire to do something larger than herself.
The project traces back to fall 2025, when Engage Pilates owner Cindy Snyder requested the wall art after being inspired by an abstract mural that artist Emmy Star Brown had painted at Soul Good Coffee, a nearby Skokie business, according to The Record North Shore. Per the Tribune, Engage Pilates owners had contacted village officials that same fall about expanding their services and adding a mural to their west-facing wall, and they wanted a vibrant floral design for the neighborhood. Jones worked with the village's Public Arts Advisory Committee and the Pilates studio's owners to finalize the design, the Tribune reported.
A $21,850 Grant Funded by Building Permits
The Skokie Public Art Program paid the full $21,850 cost of the mural, funded through a percentage fee added to larger building permits, the Tribune reported. According to the same account, that allocation covered Jones' artist fee, lift rental equipment, paint supplies, an assistant and travel expenses.
The Skokie Public Arts Advisory Committee, which commissioned the piece, is tasked with bringing diverse public art and varying artistic viewpoints to the village, according to The Record North Shore.
Skokie's Mural Program Turns Ten
The wildflower wall is the 16th mural commissioned since Skokie launched its public mural initiative in 2016, per The Record North Shore. The program's first public mural was installed that same year, according to the Village of Skokie. A decade later, the Church and Crawford installation brought public art to a stretch of the village that had not had any, Wyatt noted in the earlier report.
The corner is no quiet backstreet. The wall faces a signalized intersection at a gateway into the village.
A Detroit-Based Artist
Jones is a Detroit-based muralist known for large-scale flower murals.
In Skokie, Jones' design includes hydrangeas, peonies, liatris, rudbeckia and a red admiral butterfly.
A Business Bloom to Match the Wall
The mural's arrival coincides with a physical expansion at Engage Pilates, which added space for additional reformers, treatment rooms and a community tea space, The Record North Shore reported. It's the kind of pairing Skokie's public art program has leaned into elsewhere in the village: earlier this month, Hoodline reported on the Skokie kosher fridge memorial, another community-driven installation that turned a functional space into something with deeper local meaning. For Engage Pilates, the mural has turned the strip mall wall into a distinct neighborhood landmark.
