Can you live working as an artist? Eulojio Ortega, a Mexican-American painter from Chicago, did it. He was commissioned to create a mural in the world’s largest Starbucks.
In 2019, the famous Sirena chain opened its doors, the largest store, it consists of five floors and bears the name of Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago. This is located between North Michigan Avenue and Erie Street in the Magnificent Mile. Although it was not the first cafeteria with this exclusive concept, it is the most attractive.
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Who is Eulojio Ortega?
In this gigantic five-story venue, complete with terrace, it is 3,300 square meters. However, this is not the most impressive. The Mexican Eulojio Ortega, conquered the international chain with his talent, thus he painted a large four-story work of art next to the emergency stairs.
“I am an artist who provides all forms of commissioned art, from murals to portraits to fine art,” Eulojio explains on LinkedIn.
The beautiful mural by Eulogio Ortega took two months to paint. In addition, it reportedly took the artist a month to come up with the idea, which is known as “the history of coffee”.
“For me this is the most important part of any mural: the study of color,” he explains on his Instagram account.
However, this particular mural had a special impact on the painter. Ortega opened up on his social networks and tells the story behind his work.
“As I was painting the mural inside the Starbucks, always in the back of my mind was the knowledge that my dad had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer a few months earlier and the odds weren’t good.
So when one of the areas of the mural required that a man collected coffee beans, I knew who would be the perfect model for that section. Painting it in one of my best murals was a small gesture that I wanted to do to him and a memory that I wanted to leave..
He got to see it before he left us, and I’m pretty sure he liked it. He was a wonderful father, grandfather, husband, and man. We miss him very much. At the funeral, many people told me that he used to talk about me, about my work and how proud he was ”.
Other projects
Ortega studied at Northern Illinois University from 1998 to 2001, and started practicing in 2002. In addition, among its clients are Starbucks, Cabela’s and ABC televisionamong others.
On his website chicagomuralist.com, and on social networks we can see his other works, which include a mural for a pizzeria, another inspired by Harry Potteralso in the classic Wizard of Oz, as well as cars, animals and nature. “Highly realistic murals designed and painted to turn spaces into impressive experiences.”
But, one of the ones that has attracted the most attention is the mural made for a primary school. This is how he explains it:
“They gave me a lot of freedom and confidence to design and paint murals that would mean something to the kids and the teachers, as well as look great. For those of you unfamiliar, 40% of the children that go to Plano, Illinois, USA are of Mexican descent, therefore one of the figures on the wall is Pancho Villaa Mexican revolutionary hero.
If one day you visit the great Starbucks located on Michigan Avenue, Chicago, you will already know the story of this great artist: Eulojio Ortega.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.