In a bustling city where every nook and cranny is packed with bars, coffee shops, and corner stores, alleys exist as a place of calm, one where people can find far more than a parking spot. Sometimes, that’s a painting.
Madisyn Mettenburg was roaming aimlessly through the alley near her Ravenswood apartment after a rough day, having locked herself out of her new apartment. On a walk to clear her head, she noticed a blur in the distance, a painting of a forest path that became the centerpiece of her apartment walls.
“It’s just really peaceful,” Mettenburg says. “It feeds into [the idea] as a kid being really into books of falling into a painting. It’s kind of magical.”…