Road show

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This article was published 14/03/2016 (3730 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHICAGO — The mosaic artist who patches up Chicago potholes with glass and marble is getting ready to hit the road again.

In two days earlier this month, Jim Bachor raised more than US$2,300 — more than double his goal — in a Kickstarter fundraiser for a new instalment of his pothole mosaics that have ranged from as simple as the word “pothole” with the city flag to colourful frozen treats to high-end designer Gucci and Burberry patterns.

He has created more than 30 pieces of pothole art since 2013, when he first patched up a pothole in front of his home.

He’s going for the unexpected grin.

“You’re going through your day and doing your thing and crossing the street and unexpectedly you see a Bomb Pop (red, white and blue ice pop) where a pothole should be, and I just think that’s kind of funny,” said Bachor, 51.

He wouldn’t reveal the theme for this year’s new batch of about two dozen pothole mosaics, but said installation would begin in late March at the earliest, depending on the weather. He’s also looking to spread his dry sense of humour to other American cities, such as San Antonio and Los Angeles.

The potholes can’t be too big, small, deep or shallow. They can’t be in the centre of the street or on a street that is too beat up, because at some point that street will be repaved. The potholes have to be roughly 45 centimetres by 60 centimetres surrounded by stable asphalt, he said. Though the mosaics are durable and don’t fade, some have been paved over, he said.

He enlists his 7,000 Instagram followers for suggestions on which potholes to fill. When he finishes an installation, he posts a picture on social media, hints where it is located and leaves a goody bag nearby.

No, he hasn’t asked the city for permission. “If I asked at the beginning about doing this, it never would have happened,” Bachor said.

Ideally, Bachor would like it to be 15 C for two days in a row before an installation. If it’s too cold, the concrete takes too long to set. If it’s too hot, the concrete dries too quickly and cracks. When he gets to the site, it takes two hours to mix the concrete, fill the pothole and install the artwork, he said. He comes back the following day and spends half an hour scrubbing it to clean it up.

It costs about $100 for materials for each pothole and eight hours to make the mosaic in his studio, Bachor said.

His street art has given him exposure for his other artwork and led to getting commissioned for mosaic projects elsewhere, including at the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line Thorndale station and Nike Chicago on Michigan Avenue, he said. He plans to install a piece in the next couple of weeks at Pork and Mindy’s, a new Chicago restaurant from Food Network star Jeff Mauro, and in a couple of months in the sidewalk of a walkway leading to a Logan Square greystone.

He doesn’t know when he’ll stop creating the pothole mosaics. For now, he still finds humour in the juxtaposition of pairing a pothole with flowers or ice cream sandwiches or other things people generally love.

“Potholes are everywhere. It’s a universal hate,” Bachor said.

— Chicago Tribune