Mural of Michelle Obama draws plagiarism allegations
CHICAGO -- An art student claims a creative planner stole her work in painting a mural of former-first lady Michelle Obama on the South Side, CBS Chicago reports.
Artwork located on the side of a building on East 74th Street shows Mrs. Obama in ancient Egyptian garb.
Ethiopian art student Gelila Mesfin says she created the image and posted it online in tribute to the former first lady and Chicago native.
Creative planner Chris Devins found the image and claims he simply used a technique that mural painters have long followed. Devins says he used that image to create his crowd-funded mural.
He claims that Mesfin’s creation itself was an interpretation of another artist’s original.
Mesfin and Devins are apparently negotiating a resolution to the dispute -- a development Mesfin reported on her Twitter page.
CBS Chicago reached out to Mesfin for comment, but has not heard back yet.
