Highwood's Benchmark 2 Unveils 20 New Benches For The Community

HIGHWOOD, IL (June 23, 2016) - Highwood's Benchmark 2 unveiled 20 new decorated park benches designed and created by 18 extremely talented artists in an effort to bring more art installations to the streets and parks throughout the City of Highwood.

The public can see the new benches while they are on display at the Highwood Metra station through mid-July. After that they will be moved to their permanent locations throughout Highwood.

A select number of the benches will be auctioned off during The Great Highwood Pumpkin Festival on October 7-9 to help raise money for Make-A-Wish® Illinois.

According to Kevin Loesch, owner of Highwood's 3 Barrels Studios and co-founder of the Midwest Artist Initiative, who collaborated with the City on Benchmark 2, "This year's jury selected the best artists to design and create these unique works of art for all to enjoy and we're all honored to be a part of this amazing initiative and are looking forward to seeing these works on display throughout town."

ABOUT THE MIDWEST ARTIST INITIATIVE

Founded by Highwood residents and brothers Kevin and Tim Loesch, and Joel Morgan of Hydra Electric Tattoo, The Midwest Artist Initiative is an artist collective based in Highwood, IL. The 'art for charity,' not-for-profit organization is 179 members strong and growing and has multiple showings annually. The Midwest Artist Initiative works with charities to create themed art shows often hosted throughout the Chicagoland area. For more information, please visit http://3barrelsstudios.com and https://www.facebook.com/midwestartistinitiative/. Tel: 847.780.4482.