The art of the pothole
Artist battles Chicago craters with colourful mosaic fillings
CHICAGO — The perfect pothole might not exist for many people — but for mosaic artist Jim Bachor, it’s one with a nice oval shape. Bachor began filling those potholes a little more than a year ago, after one in front of his house became a hassle.
Bachor doesn’t just fill them with cement, though. He’s turned pothole-filling into a public art project — one with a sense of humour. He fills them with mosaics.
“I just think it’s fun to add that little bit of spark into (an) issue that people moan about,” says the Chicago resident, whose work also hangs in galleries. He was first drawn to the ancient art form because of its ability to last.
With orange cones and vests displaying his last name, Bachor and his helpers look official enough to shut down a street section to work on filling a pothole.
Bachor uses the Chicago city flag design in his pothole art. Some versions hold phone numbers to local auto repair shops, while others simply read “POTHOLE.” His most recent instalment north of downtown Chicago — “#21914” — pokes fun at the huge number of potholes that exist in the city.
While his mosaic art isn’t a permanent solution to the city’s pothole problem, it’s at least a small fix, he says. The city hasn’t shut down his project, and some community members have expressed gratitude.
After his first project, one neighbour stopped to thank him. “And then 15 minutes later, he came back with a coffee and a Danish for me,” Bachor says, “and so I thought that was really cool.”