West Ridge – An outdoor mural in Chicago’s Indian community—Jenny Vyas’ “Glow,” depicting a classical Kathak dancer amid Holi colors—led to an unexpected connection with a dancer in Canada, born from a photo Vyas found and a resemblance her family recognized.
On the southeast corner of North Rockwell Street and West Devon Avenue in Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood. a mural titled “Glow” carries a dancer’s movement right off the wall. A classical Kathak dancer—captured mid-step—seems to burst from the surface in sweeping color. as her arms and skirts appear to extend into the street.
Surrounding her are bursts of color meant to evoke Holi. the ancient Hindu festival that celebrates the “arrival of spring and the blossoming of love as the sun sets on another winter. ” language Vyas wrote into the description on a plaque beside the mural. Vyas painted “Glow” in 2019. and she says the work is rooted in the way the dance tells a story with grace.
“I love the dance itself, it’s a very graceful symbol,” she said. “It’s a very simple dance. It reminds me of ballet, the way it moves.”
For Vyas, the mural is also about community—how Holi works as a shared moment, not a private celebration. “We come together and we put color on each other, strangers, anybody on the streets,” she said. In India. she added. the day comes with a kind of readiness: “when you’re walking around on this day you have to keep a watch because someone’s going to pop out and throw color on you.”.
The dancer’s bright smile is more personal than it may look at first. Vyas said she was inspired by a Canadian dancer whose photo she found—particularly “the pose, the humility in it, the grace.” She didn’t know then that the image would travel back toward her through family.
What started as an artistic reference became a connection with real people. Vyas said her cousin, who also lives in Canada, told a dancer friend that the mural Vyas painted looked like her. The two quickly confirmed that the photo Vyas found was indeed of that friend.
Once they reached out. Vyas said. it turned into something she didn’t expect when she picked up paint for a wall in Chicago. “It turned into a lovely little friendship,” she said. The dancer used an image of the mural in one of her shows and on her flyers. They hoped to collaborate on a project. but ran into a practical barrier: applying for arts grants in Canada was difficult because preference was given to those with Canadian citizenship.
Vyas’ work has spread across Chicago’s neighborhoods. and she doesn’t say she’s finished writing stories into public spaces. While she said she doesn’t have any new outdoor murals in the pipeline right now. she recently painted two murals at an Indian restaurant in the West Loop. She is also working on studio commissions for private clients.
She’s still drawn to the idea of art that includes children. One of her murals. titled “How will you rise?” at North Clifton Avenue and North Broadway in Uptown. was painted near the Hannah and Sylvia family shelters run by Cornerstone Community Outreach. Vyas said the mothers and children living there at the time worked with her on the mural. and that if you look closely you can see a small handprint left by one of the kids.
“When I was looking away, he put his hand there, and I just left it,” she said.
Even with the mural’s celebratory colors and cinematic movement. the most surprising part of “Glow” is the way it kept going after the paint dried—turning a Chicago wall into a bridge to Canada. built on recognition. a shared pose. and the kind of connection Holi is meant to spark in the first place.
Chicago news West Ridge Holi Indian community Jenny Vyas mural Kathak dancer public art Cornerstone Community Outreach Canada friendship