Don McIlvaine
editDon McIlvaine (1930-2005) was an American Postwar and contemporary painter who was born in Washington, D.C. [1] He earned his bachelor’s degree from Howard University. McIlvaine went on to study art from The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and later at the Newark Academy of Art. After moving to Chicago, Illinois, McIlvaine became a well-known muralist in the North Lawndale area, a community located on the Westside of Chicago. His mural work would lead him to become the second director of the Lawndale art gallery project, “Art & Soul,” “which began as a six-month art happening in Lawndale, an experimental friendship between [the Conservative Vice Lords] and a museum.” [2] From 1969-1970, McIlvaine worked on the “Art & Soul” project and brought both consciousness and national attention to the Chicago mural scene, especially with six political murals, including his “Black Man’s Dilemma.” [3] McIlvaine also was a teacher at the University of Illinois at Chicago.