A northern Illinois park is installing steel murals as part of a local art initiative.
ART FOR IMPACT is a Rockford Area Arts Council project. Creators were asked to create a steel mural that goes along with the theme “You Belong Here.” These fixtures will be displayed at Davis Park.
Laura Gomel is a Rockford artist. Her goal was to create a graphic novel style mural. The image represents the diversity in Rockford. It includes white, Hispanic, Black and Muslim women.
“And then [I] thought of different things that people do in Rockford,” she said. “So, you know, working, so we have a doctor and playing, we have a roller derby girl and then learning, we have this woman here and then creating we have this woman over here.”
Asia Peters is also one of the participating artists. She said she’s excited about adding more public art to the community. She’s using human faces for her mural.
“And they have like blue and green skin, for example,” she explained. “But I felt like faces were kind of the most welcoming thing that you could see as like a person approaching a park, because everyone recognizes a face.”
Installation for Screw City Steel murals will continue through this holiday weekend. Residents are encouraged to visit the park during this process. Artists will only create during daylight hours.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.
