Naper Settlement and the Naperville Art League have come together to honor the 150th anniversary of the Naperville Fire Department with a new exhibit.
Pride, Honor, and Tradition exhibit
The two groups collaborated on two different galleries at the museum, with one room devoted to work paying tribute to the department’s first responders.
“The name of that gallery is Pride, Honor, and Tradition. And that’s on the new 150th-anniversary badge of the fire department this year that was just redesigned,” said Naper Settlement exhibits leader Dina Spoerl. “So we took those three attributes and then we added in kind of other things that you think of, like heroism and community and strength and kindness and said, you know, can we kind of do a show around those kinds of ideas.”
Twenty artists associated with the art league created 35 different works of art around that theme, in an assortment of photographs, paintings, and drawings. Visitors will find displays ranging from a drawing of a 19th century Naperville Fire Department scene, to a collection of artifacts and fire gear.
Naperville and nature focus of second part of exhibit
The second part of the exhibit focuses on nature and its relationship to Naperville.
“I know a lot of people that come to Naperville, they realize it’s a beautiful town, but just how beautiful and how much history is here, you know, with the barns and the Riverwalk and again with you know the preserves”, said Nowak.
Pieces in that gallery include photographs of bridges over the DuPage River and paintings depicting scenes of animals along the Riverwalk.
Another exhibit to honor fire department coming this May
This is the second year in a row Naper Settlement has collaborated with the Naperville Art League on a winter show. The current exhibit runs through April 5.
But not long after that, the settlement will continue to honor the Naperville Fire Department with a new, more extensive exhibit to open May 7.
“So that’s going to be all over the site and there’s all the galleries on the upper level here and also in the basement. The name of the exhibit is “A Strong Back and A Strong Mind”, said Spoerl.
More information about the exhibits can be found on the Naper Settlement website.
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