Grayslake Awards $5,000 for Public Arts Project
The Grayslake Village Board has awarded a $5,000 purchase prize for a public art project commemorating the state's bicentennial and the village's history to Lake County artist Mary Haas.
Hass received the award for her winning proposal in "From Prairie to Village," a public art competition open to Lake County artists. As part of the competition, artists proposed artwork that would bring vibrancy to the Grayslake Village Center, speak to the location, and address the theme.
The final artwork will consist of 20 different 9 x 12 paintings of significant places in Grayslake and the State of Illinois.
The finished piece will hang outside the council chambers at the Grayslake Village Hall and will be unveiled as part of the Chamber of Commerce's Tree Lighting and the Grayslake Arts Alliance's annual Holiday Art Show and Sale on Nov. 23.
Most paintings will be done in plein air, meaning on location. Haas will use social media to publish the locations where she plans to work, so anyone interested can watch as she creates each piece.
"To paint plein air means to paint on location surrounded by the smells, sounds and movement of the subject," she said in her proposal. "This approach allows me to capture a direct impression of a moment in time. It also allows the community to engage with the art as it is being created, and to become a part of the art."
Haas holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and has shown her work in juried shows and festivals in Waukegan, Libertyville and the College of Lake County.
The public art competition, "From Prairie to Village," was a joint project of the Village of Grayslake and the Grayslake Arts Alliance, a local non-for profit arts group dedicated to bringing the arts to the community through education, participation, and development.
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