Coronavirus Good News: Andersonville neighbor shares chalkboard art, spreads cheer amid outbreak

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Every couple of weeks, Andersonville resident Nykol DeDreu puts a newly decorated chalkboard in her front yard. Each with its own unique and Mayor Lori Lightfoot-inspired design.

"We had a chalkboard, chalk markers and chalk," DeDreu said. "We just had the stuff at home to do it, so it became the medium."

The chalkboard art was originally designed for the kids in her neighborhood. Many parents around the area were taking their kids out on 'Window Walks' to see handmade flowers, hearts, dinosaurs in their neighbors' windows.

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But when Mayor Lightfoot closed access to the lakefront, DeDreu had an idea.

"We decided to use Lori Lightfoot instead of dinosaurs so it became a picture find," she said. "Then riffing on all of the awesome memes about our mayor right now, we did Horoscopes by Lori."

The most recent board... The Loriax.

"She's asking people to stay inside and wear their masks," DeDreu said.

The board is accompanied by a rhyme that reads, "I am the Loriax, I speak of disease. I speak of disease, for disease has no tongue. I'm telling you, sir, at the top of my lungs, bleach won't cure you, nor will the sun."

DeDreu said she hopes the chalkboards spread a little bit of cheer as we continue to fight COVID-19.

"I think that there's a lot of stress right now, there's a lot of pressure," she said. "People are looking for things to do to break up the scene and if this can be a little of that then that's awesome."

DeDreu said she'll continue making the board art until her ideas run out.

Jalyn Henderson is a Community Journalist at ABC 7 Chicago. She tells stories on the North Side of Chicago in neighborhoods like Uptown, Edgewater, Ravenswood, Lincoln Square, West Ridge and Rogers Park. If you have a story to share in these neighborhoods you can send an email to Jalyn.L.Henderson@abc.com