A Chicago artist who raised almost $12,000 to paint a mural depicting Michelle Obama as an Egyptian queen has been accused of stealing the idea from another artist.

Chris Devins, a self-described white 'artist and urban planner', finished his colorful portrait of the former First Lady on the side of a building in a South Side neighborhood last Friday.

The striking image received a string of publicity in Chicago, leading Devins to tell DNAInfo he created the mural to: 'present her as what I think she is, so she's clothed as an Egyptian queen.'

Devins originally said he needed to raise money for the project to cover its cost, which he said would be about $15,000.

Devins shared this picture of the mural on his GoFundMe page, which he used to raise just under $12,000 for the artwork

A Chicago artist who raised almost $12,000 to paint a mural depicting Michelle Obama as an Egyptian queen has been accused of stealing the creation from another artist. Pictured is the original work by Gelia Mesfin, which she posted on Instagram last November

Pictures of the mural were widely-shared across social media, and it eventually found its way to Gelila Mesfin, an Ethiopian art student in New York.

Mesfin, who shares artwork of her own on Instagram under the name 'thick_east_african_girl,' was shocked to see that the South Side painting was almost identical to a digital drawing of Obama she uploaded last November.

Her image was created by editing a picture taken by New York Times photographer Collier Schorr.

The 24-year-old student, who told the Washington Post she was initially flattered her work had seemingly inspired another artist, was quick to fire off a scathing attack on Devins.

'How can you just steal someone's artwork... someone's hard work and claim it like it's yours... how can you go on record and say you designed this... this is so disheartening and so disrespectful on so many levels,' Mesfin wrote on Instagram.

Chris Devins (left) finished his colorful portrait of the former First Lady on the side of a building in a South Side neighborhood last Friday. Gelila Mesfin (right), an Ethiopian art student in New York, accused him of stealing her work

'This man seriously created a gofundme page, raised money and did this... it's one thing to share or even profit from someone's work but to claim it as yours is just wrong!

'I wouldn't mind if he had given me credit or said he took the design from another artist but saying you designed it is just wrong!'

She continued: 'The man is a teacher for God's sake and said he was doing this to create positivity for his students and community... but he didn't think that stealing a young girl's artwork and making a profit out of it does more damage than good.'

Many on social media saw Mesfin's protestations, and were quick to go on the attack against Devins.

Devins explained on his GoFundMe page why he needed to raise money to pay for the project, which he has since been accused of stealing

After learning her work had been used in the mural, Mesfin posted a lengthy message on social media attacking the Chicago artist

'This dude tried to steal a piece of art by a black woman of a black woman and thought he wouldn't get caught,' Chicago Tribune writer Britt Julios added.

But Devins didn't take the criticism laying down, and hit back when speaking to DailyMail.com.

'I am doing these things in my capacity as an urban planner but everyone keeps saying 'artist'... As an urban planner i make no claims on any of the images I do, a fool can see that I use public domain images a lot, but they know that the audience has no idea what an urban planner does, so they sexy it up with artist,' he said.

'It would be a problem if I posed as an Artist and took credit for another artists work, but i don't do that. I’m urban planning.

Now, it does turn out that the way I take whole sets of images, re-mix them and re-present them as a way to connect buildings to the community may be in itself a new form of art, like an image DJ.

As a non-artist artist, it turns out I may be thinking more outside the box than a lot of these so-called artists who doodle, but who are trapped in that box of gallery attendance and wine sipping.'

He then confirmed to DailyMail.com that all the money he raised was 'gone' - having been spent on: 'supplies, the paints, the lift to get up on the building, insurances, all that sort of stuff'.

Devins then took aim at Mesfin, referencing her use of a New York Times photograph to create her piece.

'She can’t come to me and be upset… you can’t steal a bike then be upset when someone else rides it,' he said.

Explaining how he came across the artwork, Devins said: 'I found her picture on Pinterest, and there was no link back anywhere. I wasn’t aware of her or her work until about two weeks ago.'

Devins also shared a picture along with the quote: 'The bad artists imitate, the great artists steal.'

His comments seemed to be contrary to some Mesfin made on Saturday, when she returned to Instagram with a message that suggested they had come to some sort of agreement.

'I have been in contact with Chris Devins in hopes of resolving this issue in an applicable and professional manner,' it read.

'Every artist wants (to) share their work not only in the hopes of recognition but also to bring people joy and create a voice for the voiceless.

'Much love and respect to all of you.'

Many on social media were quick to accuse Devins of stealing the idea after pictures of it went viral

The Chicago artist defended himself by listing his qualifications, before posting a picture of the quote: 'the bad artists imitate, the great artists steal'