Tony Fitzpatrick, a prolific Chicago-based artist known for his collages, etchings, and works on paper, died of a heart attack on 11 October at age 66. He was also a poet, author, actor, and raconteur, whose work is held in major museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Fitzpatrick ran the influential gallery World Tattoo, and his largest outdoor mural, *Night and Day in the Garden of All Other Ecstasies*, adorns Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater. He had been awaiting a double lung transplant after a diagnosis of interstitial lung disease.
Fitzpatrick's death marks the loss of a singular figure in Chicago's cultural landscape, celebrated for his brash yet generous personality and his vocal defense of labor unions and underdogs. His work, which often incorporated imagery of birds, dogs, boxers, and Chicago itself, served as a counter-narrative to negative portrayals of the city. His legacy endures through his extensive body of work, his mentorship of young artists, and his deep ties to institutions like Steppenwolf Theater, where he performed and left a lasting public artwork.