Puerto Rican Artist Wil Velez Behind the Colorful Mural at The SoFo Tap
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“We wanted something inclusive to all the ‘bear’ types that frequent (The SoFo Tap),” says Wil Velez.
The SoFo Tap in Andersonville, which boasts itself as a neighborhood bear bar south of Foster, now features a wall art of bears that took about two months to paint – drawn for inclusivity of all the bears who frequent the northside bar.
“We decided on going with a 'furry' look and decided to do characters in the bear community: a Black Bear, Brown Bear, Polar Bear and a Panda Bear,” explained artist Wil Velez, 38, who is the general manager at Blick Art Materials in the Chicago Loop. “We did a muscle gorilla, an otter, a bull, a pig, a daddy wolf, a muscle pup, and a unicorn in trans colors to symbolize the FTM trans bear community.”
The mural was painted in June and July and was ready for the bar's reopening in August.
