Puerto Rican Artist Wil Velez Behind the Colorful Mural at The SoFo Tap
“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.
