ARTWORK BY MAYA HAYUK COMMISSIONED FOR THE LOBBY OF 445 N. WELLS IN CHICAGO

Urban Innovations and its development affiliate, North Wells Capital, are thrilled to announce the acquisition of a newly commissioned painting entitled SCAPE by internationally acclaimed artist, Maya Hayuk. The installation was unveiled on January 6, 2020 in the lobby of the 445 N. Wells building lobby as part of its renovation.

Maya Hayuk is a Ukrainian-American artist best known for her massively scaled public murals, including iconic works at Wynwood Walls, Miami FL and on the historic Bowery Wall in New York City.

Emblematic of her celebrated style, SCAPE features an abstracted geometric composition overlapping strokes of color, dripping and transparent, in a woven language that pays homage to her Ukrainian roots. While SCAPE's architecture is based on drawings made from Sudoku puzzles, ultimately it looks to expanding consciousness and perception to find new patterns and interconnectivity.

The recently commissioned painting is twenty feet wide and five feet tall, almost to the scale of an on-site mural. It will be mounted on an exposed brick wall from the original exterior of the 100-year-old building.

“We want to activate the common areas of our buildings with unique art to relate to tenants, their employees and visitors on a deeper level,” said Jo Anne Gottfried, President of Urban Innovations. “Art helps us to experience space in a new way and can provide the spark of inspiration that drives innovative thinking,” she added.

The lobby of 445 N Wells recently underwent a full renovation utilizing a modern, minimalistic design that accentuates the building’s original frame and exposed brick.

“The new lobby design plays into the roots of the building itself and the community we build inside its walls,” Gottfried said. “The artwork by Maya Hayuk completes the picture.”

This is not the first time Urban Innovations and North Wells Capital have commissioned artwork for its renovated buildings. The firms recently commissioned Milwaukee artist Jeremy Novy for a lobby mural depicting a migration of geese at HUB640, the mixed-use renovation of the former Boston Store in Milwaukee’s burgeoning Westown neighborhood.

Jeremy Novy’s lobby mural at HUB640 and Maya Hayuk’s SCAPE at 445 North Wells were both curated by Rachel Conant, Urban Innovations’ in-house Art Curator.