You can be part of Naperville’s Century Walk mural

May 27, 2011 — Source: The Naperville Sun — Author: Tim West

Adele Vystejnova works on the image of a man on a mural titled 'Everybody Loves a Parade' on the side Gap in the alley named Rubin's Way in downtown Naperville on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. | Steven Buyansky~Sun-Times Media

As you may recall, a few weeks ago, I wrote about the newest project for Century Walk, Naperville’s ever-growing array of public art.

All over town, but primarily in the downtown, there are sculptures and murals that depict various aspect of life in Naperville.

The newest is under way now, two facing murals on what is being known as Rubin’s Way — the alleyway between the Gap and Talbot’s on the west side of Main Street in downtown Naperville.

One side has a completed mural called “Parade of the Century,” which shows a downtown Naperville parade in silhouette as it changes over the last century.

But every parade needs an audience, and in Naperville, that means a large one.

So, on the other side of the alley there is starting to be painted “Naperville Loves a Parade,” a full-color mural, which will depict people watching the parade with the buildings and logos of Naperville businesses behind them.

If it seems a little hard to visualize this from the mere words I can use to describe it, head downtown and take a look at the work in progress. I think you’ll be impressed.

And as rarely is the case in public art, there is an opportunity here for the public to be involved.

The spectator side of the mural is going to include real people and local business buildings and logos.

And you can be involved.

This is similar to the “hangar door” on the community concert center in Central Park, where if you look at the faces painted on it “watching” the Municipal Band in concert, you may well find a depiction of someone you know.

You may be wondering, “How do I get myself, my family or my business on something like that?”

Well, like everything else public art has to be funded, and the folks on the hangar door paid for the privilege, by subscription.

The same plan is being used for “I Love a Parade.”

The money you pay to have your likeness, or that of your business or logo, on the wall will be used to pay for the mural. Century Walk Corporation is a 501(c)(3) corporation and the cost to you to be on the mural is 90 percent tax deductible.

How much you have to spend to be immortalized, in a sense, on Century Walk, depends on what you want. For instance, full figure portraits of a family or group of four will cost $3,000. Additional full-figure adult paintings are $1,000 each, while a teen is $800 and a child is $600. It’s certainly cheaper than sending them to college. Depictions of heads only in the back of the crowd are cheaper. There is also pricing for pets, chairs, bags, purses, strollers, military uniforms and so forth.

For a business, your logo on a depiction of your actual building is $3,000, but your logo on any building, not necessarily yours, is $2,000, while a logo on a sign is $1,000.

There are other rates for special requests as well.

The Sun is going to be a participant in the project, so sometime soon, my bearded mug will appear on the mural. I hope that won’t scare you away.

If you’d like to participate, but at a lower cost, four additional portraits will be raffled to the public during June. Raffle tickets, at a cost of $10 each, will be available at Casey’s Foods, Dean’s Fine Clothing and Minutemen Press, as well as being sold at the site.

The kick-off event for the mural will be held Monday after the Memorial Day parade and the ceremonies that follow.

For further information about Century Walk, visit www.centurywalk.org. For more information about being part of “Naperville Loves a Parade,” call 630-355-5553.

View the original article on the Naperville Sun website. 

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