Naperville’s Century Walk mural features parade
June 15, 2011 — Source: Naperville Sun — Author: Tim West
The parade is already there, and now the audience is beginning to show up.
Century Walk’s newest piece of public art, “Naperville Loves a Parade,” is currently being painted on “Rubin’s Way,” the new name for the alley located between the Gap and Talbot’s on Main Street in downtown Naperville.
The completed part of the project depicts, in silhouette, Naperville parades of the 20th century.
The work in progress to be in full color on the other side of the alley consists of the parade watchers and the buildings behind them. These will be people who sign up (and pay the freight) to have themselves, a family member or friend, or their businesses memorialized on the wall facing the parade.
If you look at what has been done so far, you’ll find Bettye Wehrli and her late husband, Jim Wehrli, watching the parade.
Ed Channell is there, too, in his U.S. Marines uniform, complete with appropriate salute.
The Rubin family is represented, too, with the late Al Rubin in Bermuda shorts, which no one can ever recall seeing him wear, but the effect is what is known as “artistic license.”
As you can tell by the photo accompanying this, thanks to the sponsorship of The Sun, I’m in there, too, clad in a sort of early newspaper boy delivery outfit — or at least the way one might have looked had I been in a bad movie set around the turn of the 20th century.
Pseudo-historical to be sure, but the newspaper bag is one that was made for me for a skit in the follies that were held in 1980 as a fundraiser for Naperville’s Sesquicentennial events.
Sometimes in this job it would be useful to have a props department, though it is good that I hardly ever throw anything away — even 30-year-old newspaper delivery bags.
As you can tell, my part of the painting as it appears here isn’t done yet, which is why my image is fainter than the others near me. Or maybe I’m just already fading out.
But if you’d like to be part of Century Walk, there’s still lots of space left on the wall. Prices for business logos, buildings, individuals and family groups, and so forth range from a thousand dollars on up.
A good way to get in on the fun without putting out big bucks is to buy a $10 raffle ticket for space on the wall.
There are two spaces to be raffled off, one Saturday, June 18, and one Saturday, June 25.
Tickets can be purchased at Casey’s Foods, Dean’s Fine Clothing and the Minuteman Press.
So far, Mark Metzger and Councilman Paul Hinterlong have purchased lucky ducats and won a place on the wall. Maybe you can, too.
For more information about the project, call 630-355-5553.
