West Chicago, Illinois: November 17, 2014 – The outdoor gallery created by the installation of twelve original street art banners which hung on Main Street in West Chicago from May through September for the community’s annual Banner Art Project, captured the attention of downtown visitors and sparked enthusiasm for the project. One eye-catching banner in particular, created by Elgin artist and Gallery 200 member nicknamed jrr, was chosen as the 2014 People’s Choice winner.
Going For It (Cycle Moon) was originally created as a mixed media piece – chalk, ink and collage on paper. jrr, one of two artists who make up First Star Art, later developed the work into an acrylic painting on canvas called “Cycle” which has since been sold to a private collector. A photographic image of Going For It (Cylce Moon) was transferred to the 30” x 60” vinyl banner and displayed for the five-month period in historic downtown West Chicago.
The banner’s vibrant color palette and whimsical interpretation of the theme (Bi)Cycle of Life chosen by the West Chicago Cultural Arts Commission, collected the most votes of all who participated in the People’s Choice Award voting. Artist jrr explains her motivation in creating Going For It (Cycle Moon), “I was thinking of hopes, ambitions, and dreams coming true with effort, hard work, –with action–putting ‘one’s back into it’ so to speak”.
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Earlier this year, the Commission announced details for the 2015 Project, and encouraged emerging and accomplished artists to get involved by submitting up to three JPEG images at 72 ppi measuring (h)7″ x (w)5″. There is still time to enter. All files should be numbered and named with the artist’s last name and first name. Ex.: 01Lastname_Firstname.jpg and submitted via this form. All media are welcome, with no limitation to technique or subject matter, as long as the theme revolves around A Picture of Health, which is a direct tie-in with the citywide wellness initiative Healthy West Chicago. An independent juror not affiliated with the City of West Chicago or the Cultural Arts Commission, will select the works of art anonymously.
The chosen artwork will be transferred to 60″ x 30″ vinyl banners that will hang on street poles along Main Street in downtown West Chicago from May through September 2015, creating a vibrant display of public art for residents and visitors to the community. The Commission hosts an artists’ reception, produces a walking tour guide which maps the location of each banner and sponsors a People’s Choice Award for all banners selected. Next year the winner of the People’s Choice Award will be presented with their banner as their award at the conclusion of the display.
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The deadline for art submissions is December 12, 2014. This is earlier than has been the case for this program in the past, and organizers are hoping for a “healthy” number of entries and a bigger display for next year. “The earlier deadline will help with the Commission’s ability to plan for what it hopes will be a larger number of banners next spring. Plus, more time means more publicity for the artists and their banners,” said Cultural Arts Commission staff liaison Rosemary Mackey.
The online submission form is available at www.westchicago.org under Residents/Forms. Anyone living in the Chicagoland area is invited to apply. For any questions about the 2015 Banner Art Project, contact the West Chicago City Museum at (630) 231-3376 or museum@westchicago.org.
