Adler arts center plans outdoor mural project in Libertyville
With its signature summer event canceled due to COVID-19, the Adler Center for the Arts in Libertyville is pursuing other initiatives to engage the community.
Public murals top the list of ways the center, based at the historic David Adler home at 1700 N. Milwaukee Ave., wants to continue its mission to educate, promote and preserve the arts during a challenging time.
The Libertyville village board recently approved a not-to-exceed amount of $7,042 for four events - known as Adler Outside - in late summer or early fall.
First is the community movable mural project to be held on the Adler grounds Aug. 22. Participation is free, but to limit the number of people at any one time, participants must be at least 12 years old and sign up in advance at adlercenter.org. There will be three slots per hour to accommodate social distancing, and face coverings will be required.
The movable mural debuted last year at the long-running Festival of the Arts at Cook Park in downtown Libertyville. The two-day event would have been held last weekend but was canceled for the first time in its long history because of COVID-19.
A design was outlined on three, two-sided 4-by-8 foot plywood panels, and participants filled in the blanks with special paint donated by Rust-Oleum. After the festival, the mural was moved to the Adler Center and prominently located facing Milwaukee Avenue, a main route through town.
This year, the mural will remain on site as the previous images will be painted over and a new design outlined. The design will feature representation of the arts, such as a dancing figure, cello and painters pallette, and images relating to the center's new logo, which was introduced in March.
"It's very graphic. There will be large images with geometric shapes," said Beth McKenna, a local artist and exhibition curator for Adler.
A second community mural project, which McKenna envisions as "Instagram worthy," is tentatively planned for late September. It will be done in the pedestrian vestibule of the village's Church Street parking deck. Details regarding the style and content of the mural are being determined.
"We've got a really cool idea about who the artist is going to be to get that going," said Amy Williams, Adler executive director.
The expansive grounds of the Adler estate comes into play with two other planned activities. Plein-air (painting outdoors) workshops will offer local artists opportunities to focus on various sections of nature and architecture. Also, visitors can reflect, draw or take pictures as they stroll through a poetry garden on the Adler grounds, which is being revamped.
The public will be invited to make their own contributions to the collection of poems written on paper by Adler students. The poems have been laminated and hung from trees.
"People will be able to see the restoration in process - kind of a public garden for the community," McKenna said.