St. Charles artist Guy Bellaver is a believer in volunteerism

If you've ever stood and reflected on St. Charles' river walk, contributed a solemn thought to the Kane County Veterans' Memorial or visited the Batavia Fine Arts Center, you've seen several examples of why Guy Bellaver is a person to be thankful for.

The St. Charles resident has created more than 30 pieces of public art during the past four decades. Many of them remain on display throughout the Fox Valley.

Bellaver loved drawing as a kid. But his works didn't proceed much beyond paint by number until after he became a Vietnam veteran and earned an economics degree.

"One day I saw a double rainbow and decided I'd like to paint something with that theme," Bellaver said. "So I went and bought some oil paints and started painting. At that point I was not concerned about what I needed to do for a profession. I was fortunate to have a degree and a job. So I could pursue whatever else it was I wanted to do."

That pursuit became his life's passion. But he hasn't kept it to himself. Bellaver has been active in multiple local art foundations and projects. Most recently, Bellaver created the "reflections" sculpture recently unveiled on the new Volunteer Plaza along St. Charles' river walk. The sculpture is part of his Quarks series.

That series was born when Bellaver sought inspiration for theme when he was invited to exhibit at Fermilab's art gallery. He saw the negatives of photos taken of particle collisions. In witnessing the disintegration of atoms, it inspired Bellaver to consider a sculpture that captured the essence of that change of mass and energy.

"And just like that reaction gives energy for another reaction, that project gave energy to another project," Bellaver said. The reflections sculpture is the 17th in the series.

"They are radiating out from that central core, but all the pieces are connected," he continued. "It's just like the energy a volunteer conveys to a community by being involved in many things."