This may be my last post on local murals for a while, because I think that we have tracked down most of the new(er) murals in town.
The first two were created in 2022.
The first is “Dance on Illinois,” on an apartment building at 806 W. Illinois. It’s by Rafael Blanco, and was intentionally placed near the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. When interviewed by Smile Politely, Champaign-Urbana’s online Culture Magazine, the artist said the best thing about creating an outdoor mural is transforming an empty/boring wall into an exciting work of art. He wants the mural to have a visual impact and for the grey and empty wall to become a source of inspiration with just some paint on it. For him, the most challenging thing about creating outdoor murals is the rain. In his opinion, public art is for all ages, backgrounds, and ethnicities, and it tends to connect and unite viewers despite their differences. See his website, https://rafael-blanco.com/home (click on the bars on the upper left for detailed information).
The second mural is “Native Prairie Roses” on the Rose Bowl Tavern wall in Urbana, by Kinsey Fitzgerald. She is on FaceBook and LinkedIn.
When interviewed by Smile Politely, she said the best thing about creating an outdoor mural is the continual collaboration with the elements, and the community. She said that for her, she loves working big. For her, the most challenging thing is the elements and the weather. As she said, the inspiration for this mural was inspired by the idea of re-wilding downtown Urbana with native flowers of this region to inform the public and to call attention to prairie flowers. For her, the Rose Bowl Tavern itself was an inspiration, partly because of the name, and the local music scene it is cultivating. She hopes to do more murals around town with the re-wilding theme, perhaps with Coneflowers or Black-Eyed Susans.
I’ve also added a lovely indoor bird mural at the café in Allerton Park, in the nearby town of Monticello, owned by the University of Illinois.
And a mural on the edge of a parking lot on campus, with a football theme (football is very big at the University of Illinois).
very enjoyable………..thanks………………………
Paula
Thanks Paula