FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2025
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COMMUNITY INVESTMENT CORPORATION ANNOUNCES CRISTIAN ROLDAN AS ARTIST SELECTED FOR NEW WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORPORATION MURAL BUILDING INSTALLATION
Mural Will Celebrate Affordable Housing and the Spirit of Chicago’s Neighborhoods
CHICAGO – Community Investment Corporation (CIC), a Chicago nonprofit lender that finances the acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of affordable rental housing, today announced that Chicago artist Cristian Roldan has been selected to design the next mural for the iconic Wintrust Financial Corporation Mural Building, located along Interstate 90. Roldan’s concept was chosen for its vibrant storytelling, rich connection to community and creative alignment with CIC’s mission to preserve and invest in affordable rental housing throughout Chicagoland.
“We’re honored to work with Cristian Roldan on this landmark project,” said Stacie Young, President and CEO of Community Investment Corporation. “His work captures the spirit of Chicago’s neighborhoods in a way that’s both personal and universal. It’s a powerful reflection of why preserving our city’s affordable housing is so important.”
Roldan was selected from more than 150 artist submissions reviewed by a panel of CIC staff, board members and community representatives. Five finalists were awarded honoraria to develop detailed concepts, with Roldan’s proposal ultimately selected for the installation. Roldan will also receive a $9,000 monetary award to cover artist fees. Roldan’s work can be seen across Chicago, from the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture to the lobby of the Humboldt Park Health Wellness Center. He also spearheaded Al Fresco, a dynamic citywide public art initiative that transformed outdoor dining spaces into vibrant community hubs.
“Mural painting has been a way for me to give back—especially to my Puerto Rican community in Humboldt Park,” said muralist Cristian Roldan. “I’m deeply committed to investing in neighborhoods through public art. This project gave me the opportunity to bring my skills and passion together. I’m incredibly grateful to be selected as the winner, and I hope my mural shows how even small, collective actions can shape our city—each panel representing a different stage in the building process.”
The final mural will celebrate the resilience, culture and everyday beauty found across all of Chicago’s neighborhoods—themes at the heart of CIC’s work supporting affordable housing and community development citywide.
The mural will appear on the Wintrust Mural Building, a highly visible site along the Kennedy Expressway that receives more than 500,000 daily impressions. The mural will consist of three separate panels: two adjacent panels on the north- and west-facing walls, and a standalone panel on the south-facing wall. The selected artist will receive $9,000 to cover all artists fees. The completed mural is scheduled to be unveiled in fall 2025 and will be on display for six weeks.
This project reflects the ongoing collaboration between Wintrust and CIC, which has supported CIC’s affordable housing loan fund for over 15 years. Together, they continue to invest in the people, places and partnerships that strengthen Chicago’s communities.
For more information, visit www.cicchicago.com/call-for-artists/.
About Community Investment Corporation (CIC):
CIC is a 50 year-old not-for-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) organization dedicated to the preservation and creation of affordable housing in the Chicago area. Since its founding, CIC has provided innovative financial solutions to local owner-operators to strengthen neighborhoods and provide safe, affordable housing options for thousands of residents.
About Wintrust Financial Corporation:
Wintrust is a financial holding company with $65.9 billion in assets whose common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. Guided by its “Different Approach, Better Results®” philosophy, Wintrust offers the sophisticated resources of a large bank while providing a community banking experience to each customer. Wintrust operates more than 200 retail banking locations through 16 community bank subsidiaries in the greater Chicago, southern Wisconsin, west Michigan, northwest Indiana, and southwest Florida market areas. In addition, Wintrust operates various non-bank business units, providing residential mortgage origination, wealth management, commercial and life insurance premium financing, short-term accounts receivable financing/outsourced administrative services to the temporary staffing services industry, and qualified intermediary services for tax-deferred exchanges. For more information, please visit wintrust.com.
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