Downtown mural honors Elgin man killed in motorcycle crash

Joel Feliciano first met Rocky Lopez outside Dream Hall, often stopping to say hello and chat while the artist created murals on a wall of the downtown Elgin building.

“He would just joke with me. He was such a positive dude,” Feliciano said.

Never did he imagine one day he’d be painting a mural of Lopez, a memorial to the Elgin entrepreneur and actor who died Aug. 9 in a West Dundee motorcycle crash. He was 53.

“You are painting your friend on a wall. It’s not easy,” Feliciano said.

Dream Hall owner Eric Echevarria asked Feliciano and fellow artist Javier Sanchez, known as Azuma, to create the mural days after Lopez’s death. Recruiting artists to paint on Dream Hall’s wall at 51 S. Grove Ave. is project he started three years ago.

Sanchez was one of the artists whose work was most recently featured. Late last year, he painted a mural featuring the iconic Rosie the riveter image and the words, “Si se puede,” which means “Yes we can” in Spanish.

“It was an amazing experience. I wanted to make something beautiful for the city to enjoy,” Sanchez said. “I wanted to do a mural to bring people together and create unity, especially for people not feeling welcomed.”

That mural had been up for almost a year, so Echevarria suggested the space next be used as a tribute to Lopez, who operated his tortilla business, Tortilleria Chihuahua, out of Dream Hall.

Feliciano and Sanchez worked on an outline using family photos to draw Lopez’s distinctive face tattoos.

“We were in a huge time crunch. We just jammed on it from beginning to end. We really buckled down,” Feliciano said. “It was our first time working together, and it was amazing.”

The mural represented a true collaboration between Lopez’s family, Echevarria, Sanchez and Feliciano, he said. “We are all on the same page,” Feliciano said.

For four days, the artists worked on the piece. “It was hard because we both have day jobs. We both have a lot of side work. We postponed a lot of stuff,” Feliciano said. “We were both hungry to paint.”

People came downtown to watch them and share stories about Lopez, who had many followers on social media.

“This whole experience has been really amazing to get to know Rocky through other people’s eyes and stories,” said Sanchez, who said he knew Lopez casually from around town.

“He made such a big impact,” he said, noting that “people would come to the mural as strangers and would leave as friends because they realized they were connected through Rocky.”

Sanchez hopes to create more art in Elgin. The city could use more murals, he said.

As for Feliciano, an opening night gathering for his first solo art show, “Hastings,” will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Elgin History Museum, 360 Park St.

He hasn’t had a lot of time to promote the show because he’s had so busy, but there’s been a big social media response, especially after he finished the Lopez mural.

“Everything is kind of word-of-mouth right now,” he said. “Whoever shows up, it will be all love.”

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Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.