Mitch Markovitz often tells people he wishes he could play a meatier role in Lake County’s history, and Wednesday it finally happened.
Sort of.
The founding artist and art director for the new South Shore Poster Series found himself covering the giant mural he painted for the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority’s former John Dillinger Museum at the Welcome Center with white paint. It may not have been the historical moment of which he dreamed, but he takes his victories where he can.
“Here’s your headline: ‘Mitch Markovitz disappears under Lake County coverup,'” he said wryly. “Makes it sound a little better.”
Actually, painting over his own work isn’t the depressing endeavor one might think. In fact, fans of his iconic posters likely would be horrified to know that some of the South Shore art he’s produced over the years has been painted over in favor of new work at his home in Knox.
It’s part of the process of watching yourself grow. And when something becomes obsolete, there’s nothing wrong with letting it go, Markovitz said.
“(The Dillinger mural) isn’t useful anymore,” he said. “I’ve known Speros (Batistatos, president and CEO of the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority) for 19 years, and I remember when this was an empty lot staked out for a building. Seeing the CVA grow and flourish, there’s no sense in weighing it down with a mural that doesn’t mean anything anymore.
“Plus, any time anyone wants to build a cafe, I’m fine with it.”
SSCVA Spokeswoman Erika Dahl said the administration looked at ways to incorporate the 1999 giant mural of the Biograph Theater — the place where Dillinger was shot — into the new gift shop and grab-and-go cafe. Short of cutting out a load-bearing wall and taking it to the museum’s final home in Crown Point, however, there was really no feasible way to do it.
There also was really no way to keep it without somehow glorifying the deadly gangster, and that’s something the authority wants to stay away from, Dahl said. And anyway, the gift shop will also serve as the authority’s “Legends of the South Shore” new home.
“If there was a way we could’ve repurposed it, we would’ve,” Batistatos said. “It served us well but we’re excited about the new direction.”
Batistatos also was tickled to see his friend working in a “new medium.”
“The greatest moment of the day was seeing Mitch with a roller and white Home Depot house paint. I always tell him it takes so long to paint his house because he’s using 1/2- inch brushes,” he said. “It was a lighthearted moment, and we try to have those as much as we can around here.”
Markovitz, meanwhile, will be working on the authority’s new South Shore poster, to be debuted in the next couple of months, he said. And he still enjoys the project as much as he did when he started.
“We’re telling the new story of the region in an old dialect, and the posters have become the regional dialect worldwide,” he said. “It’s been great to see my work grow over the last 18, 19 years.”
More Top Picks How To Help A Dyslexic Child With Spelling
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.