Des Plaines' best qualities went into new mural
For 50 years, the wall outside the Des Plaines History Center featured crumbling white paint and a long-forgotten billboard.
But a recent sponsorship from the Des Plaines Arts Council transformed the blank slate into a life-size mural filled with bold tones and detailed images.
Painted by Elmhurst artist Jason Watts, the mural was selected by representatives from the arts council, the history center and the city government as an effort to beautify and bring historical awareness to the community. It was chosen among 12 other proposals.
“Watts' proposal stood out because of its bold colors and his ability to combine several aspects of Des Plaines' history into a single theme,” said Philip Mohr, history center executive director.
Watts certainly did his research when deciding which aspects to combine. He headed to the building where the mural would soon be displayed: the history center.
“He used our archives to find reference images when creating the composition,” Mohr said. “It really shows that something beautiful can come out of research when placed in the hands of a person with a creative mind.”
Watts decided to incorporate five components of Des Plaines' history in his mural: Des Plaines Theatre, Maine West marching band, O'Hare International Airport, the railroad and the Sugar Bowl restaurant.
Watts said most viewers find themselves drawn toward the focal point, a trumpet-playing member of the marching band. Other components are displayed within movie poster-like signs.
“I wasn't sure how to get some of those historical elements into the scene,” he said. “When I thought about the Des Plaines Theatre, it finally came to me that I could use the movie posters to connect other elements.”
Watts said one of the biggest challenges was scaling his proposal to fit a building-sized wall. He worked with Chicago-based sign company Heart & Bone Signs to magnify and transfer his outline. He then used acrylic paints ranking high on the UV index scale to prevent the colors from fading with sun exposure, topping the mural off with a coat of glaze to emphasize its bold tones.
From research to scaling to painting, Watts kept the primary goal of the mural in mind: to honor the city of Des Plaines. He took on each step of the process with the intent of producing artwork capable of bringing joy for generations to come.
“When people look at the mural, I'm hoping they'll take away that it's meant to be celebratory,” Watts said. “I tried to make it reflective of the past but also looking forward toward the next chapter of Des Plaines — the future.”