As USGA championship host, Wheaton plans 'Summer of Golf'

As Pam Keller painted scenes from one of her favorite places in Wheaton, she thought about her father's influence on her education, her career and her art.

They went to the same art school. They both became graphic artists and painters. And they shared a fondness for Cantigny Park.

"I think every piece of art, there's some of him in it because he taught me so much," Keller said of her father, John Cather. "I'm probably learning from him all the time, thinking about how he would do this or what he would do if he had this challenge."

So it seemed the hand of fate chose the West Chicago artist for her next challenge: Painting a giant golf ball for a public art project celebrating an inaugural golf tournament this summer at Chicago Golf Club, a historic course south of downtown.

At a surprise reveal with other artists last month, Keller learned she was selected to paint the ball sponsored by Cantigny. She's since worked with park leaders to develop an elaborate design honoring Cantigny's military connections, gardens and the original owner of the 500-acre estate.

"I'm honored this is the one I got to do because it's just so meaningful to me," she said.

There's a meaning to each of the 3-foot-diameter golf balls going on display around town this month to build anticipation for the U.S. Senior Women's Open Championship on July 12.

Sponsoring businesses and community groups all have a voice in the project organized by the city's fine and cultural arts commission. But the dimpled spheres are meant to be a canvas for artists who are interpreting the "heartbeat" of each group, said Laurie Swanson, a commission member overseeing the project.

"There's nothing like community art, and the more I look at these artists and what they're creating, the more I see how important it is to continue to, in a somewhat left-brained world, have this creative expression," she said.

The project's genesis goes back to last fall, when commission member Dee Hicks read about the U.S. Golf Association bringing the senior women's championship to Chicago Golf - the first 18-hole course in the country.

That got Hicks thinking about a golf-themed art project, and she learned about an exhibit of 5-foot-tall golf balls decorated by artists to raise money for nonprofits and welcome another major tourney: the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club.

Hicks approached the other commissioners, and they got on board with the project that's one of the highlights of "Summer of Golf," a season-long program of events tied to the tournament.

The display begins with an unveiling at the Taste of Wheaton May 31 and runs through the end of August. Most of the golf balls, teed up on turf-covered, concrete bases, will be placed near the corresponding businesses.

Businesses also will keep the balls after the exhibit, though some have indicated they will auction the pieces for charity. But the so-called "community ball" at Memorial Park will remain with the city, and Swanson envisions it as a kind of traveling piece.

Individuals and families can make a $100 donation to sponsor that ball and get a ticket to a reception with artists, tournament players and USGA officials July 9 at Arrowhead Golf Club.

The community golf ball also will feature the names of donors on a brick path painted by artist Melissa Doguim. She's recreating day-and-night scenes of Wheaton landmarks around the ball.

Keller, meanwhile, is painting from her photographs of Cantigny's Robert R. McCormick House, rose gardens and the No. 9 hole on Cantigny Golf's Lakeside course. The College of DuPage art teacher will even include a turkey as a nod to the flock that roams the grounds at Cantigny.

Her father, who died in December, loved the park, she said. "He would have loved to know that I was doing a ball for Cantigny."

Art project sponsors

The following businesses and groups are sponsoring a golf-themed public art project in Wheaton: Cantigny Park; Wheaton Park District; Town Square Wheaton/USGA; Ivy restaurant; Wheaton Bank & Trust; Mathieson, Moyski, Austin & Co.; Wyndemere senior living community; Wheaton Sport Center; Showalter Roofing; and First Trust Wheaton.