Downtown Naperville’s revolving mural has a fresh stroke of creativity.
ArtForum: The Naperville Partnership for Public Art unveiled its latest installation of the mural at 222 S. Main Street on Sunday.
Debut mural for local artist
“This piece was inspired by how people connect with the city that they live in, and specifically this one is inspired by the places and the people of Naperville,” said artist Connor Sinclair.
It’s a modern abstract style that adds faces into the Naperville landscape.
“I wanted to take different landmarks like the carillon or the riverwalk and weave those landmarks together with people and different faces of the city. I wanted to also inspire people to be more connected with their city.”
The mural is a first for the Chicago-based artist.
“It felt honestly amazing when it got selected,” Sinclair said. “I made something that really connected with these people, but not only that, this is going to be up for a whole year.”
Revolving mural highlights local art
ArtForum selects a new 27-foot-tall mural for the space each year to display for the next 12 months.
“Even before ArtForum was fully formed, we had an opportunity to put a mural up there, and we thought it would be a fantastic opportunity to make it not a permanent mural, but one that changed every year. So encouraging people to come see what’s new, also creating a sense of surprise in this spot,” said Erin Franczyk, ArtForum treasurer.
Each year, ArtForum board members reviewed the submissions, narrowing down the choices based on criteria including relevance to location, community representation, positive impact, cultural sensitivity, connection to public values, and interactivity and engagement.
This year, the organization received 38 submissions, and Sinclair’s work came out on top.
“We really liked the brightness of it and the concept of people being connected to the city, and that he incorporated specific elements of Naperville,” Franczyk said.
Making his mark downtown
At the mural’s installation, Sinclair talked to people who stopped to admire his work.
“[It] makes me really excited just to be able to come down, walk the streets, see how people are reacting to it. I love that art connects people and that this mural, even while it’s being put up, is already doing that,” said Sinclair.
Sinclair hopes people will continue to be inspired by his mural.
“It has something for everybody. No matter who you are, you can dive past it, walk past it, and feel something,” Sinclair said.
Photojournalist: Sam Kupres
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