Update, 6/2/17: Getting started on the new mural was delayed after Udofia and Ben’s Chili Bowl worked to finalize a design. Now, work is scheduled to begin this weekend, according to MuralsDC.

Update 6/15: The unveiling party has been rescheduled for June 21

Original: Aniekan Udofia is once again preparing to leave his mark on the side of the iconic Ben’s Chili Bowl building on U Street. The D.C.-based portrait artist is slated to start painting a new mural, the contents of which remain a mystery, this week.

Udofia is still tinkering with the make-up and configuration of the subjects in the final design, according to Department of Public Works spokeswoman Nancee Lyons. But he’s aiming to get the final sign-off from the Ali family, which owns Ben’s Chili Bowl, and get to work in time to have the mural largely finished by a planned June 2 celebration.

“Our goal is to basically be 90 percent complete” by the official unveiling, says Lyons. She describes the event as a celebration in the alley, “right up against the mural,” with live music and entertainment.

Still, the likeness of the people chosen to grace the wall should start to become clear long before then, as Udofia gets to outlining the figures and painting over the next few weeks.

As with the original work, the new mural has been commissioned as part of DPW and the Commission on the Arts and Humanities MuralsDC program.

Udofia painted the previous mural in 2012, lining the brick building with a colorful background and images of President Barack Obama, go-go’s Chuck Brown, radio personality Donnie Simpson, and Bill Cosby without controversy.

That changed around two years later, as old and new allegations that Cosby had raped women grew in numbers and public attention. Suddenly the comedian’s grinning visage became a reminder for many of a complacent society in the face of sexual assault, one where powerful men often face few consequences for their actions.

In Cosby’s case, it took years of public reports and private settlements before a Hannibal Burress comedy set finally made the accusations stick in the court of public opinion. Cosby is now facing felony sexual assault charges in Pennsylvania; jury selection for next month’s trial wrapped up yesterday.

The Ali family has still refused to denounce Cosby, a longtime supporter of Ben’s, or publicly rescind their offer of free food. Since Virginia Ali told the City Paper in late 2014 that “Cosby is part of our family,” they’ve been largely quiet on the issue. The comedian’s looming face on the side of the building seemed to say enough.

At one point in late 2015, an artist covered Cosby’s portrait with a giant sticker of Kim Jong-un’s face, which another artist soon ripped off. Ben’s owners stayed silent about the whole affair.

But after years of being called upon to take down Cosby’s likeness, the owners abruptly announced a new mural back in January, washing over all the portraits with white paint and stamping the words “new year, new mural” on the side of the building. “After five years of braving the elements, it’s time to refresh and repaint,” the Ali family wrote on the Ben’s website.

The owners also put up a digital survey asking the public to choose from a list of dozens of famous people they’d like to see on the new artwork, with the prospective nominees veering wildly from Alice Walker and Duke Ellington to Jimmy Fallon and Rachel Ray. In the meantime, the wall has seen a number of temporary displays, including a tribute to Wizards players John Wall and Bradley Beal.

The Ali family isn’t revealing who they and Udofia picked for the permanent installation yet, and even DPW isn’t quite sure about the make-up, as Udofia was still working on the final designs as of late yesterday afternoon.

It also isn’t entirely clear if the new work will be Cosby-free (the comedian was listed among the dozens of the options on the online survey).

“I know that we didn’t see anything wrong with the people who made the cut that we saw,” Lyons says. But she wouldn’t confirm if DPW would see something wrong with Cosby’s inclusion, only saying that “we don’t put up restrictions on the artworks as long as it’s not something that would be offensive or incite violence.”

Each year, MuralsDC has a budget of around $100,000 to commission artworks to cover city walls as an anti-graffiti initiative (this year, those funds were doubled by a matching grant from the Commission on the Arts and Humanities). The new Ben’s mural is likely to cost around $15,000-$20,000, according to Lyons.

The work will be double the size of the original, stretching much further back in the building. At least eight people will be featured, a combination of both dead and living icons. And in contrast to four unconnected portraits, there will be something of a through line linking them together.

“The mural concept is very different” from the old work, Lyons says. “It’s more of a concept that sort of tells a story.”