City Centre Blocks: An Intersection of Art and Commerce

Back in December, people visiting downtown Elmhurst got a glimpse of a new public art concept: holiday packages. This month, 14 new pieces will hit the streets, and they’ll be a much different than anything residents have seen in the past.

The fiberglass "City Centre Blocks” were designed to mimic a three-dimensional version of the Elmhurst City Centre logo, the Quad, designed a few years back based on an aerial view of a city block. The design suggests a co-existence, things working together as one much like a downtown, while implying streets and sidewalks intersecting and coming together to create a cohesive whole.

“Our objective was to create a public art display that was impactful, served a useful purpose and had staying power, while strategically utilizing an existing branding icon and bringing it to life in a fully functional, visually pleasing and bold way,” said Julie La Monica, creative director, Elmhurst City Centre. "The simple, abstract nature of the structure provided a blank canvas for artists to execute ideas that are modern and graphic in nature. Best of all, the structures are large enough to provide much needed additional seating throughout the downtown."

Six of these interactive sculptures were created by area artists and painted in an acrylic medium. The artists were given the example of modern, pop artists such as Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Banksy, David Choe and Mondrian as a guide for their concepts.

The other eight will be transformed into mobile galleries, with previously completed projects applied in a vinyl medium onto the sculptures. Reaching out to the schools and engaging the young artists in the community is truly promoting the full essence of the concept of public art. Projects from Sandburg, Churchville and Bryan middle schools and York High School will be represented. The goal is for people to linger and experience contemporary public art as an enhancement to their City Centre visit. 

What the artists are saying: 

“I created the concepts "Magical" and "Tree of Art" using bright colors with acrylic paint and oil-based paint markers. The designs are bright with a more simplified theme to get the viewer to see the artwork from a distance, for example driving in a car."—Bryan Middle School art teacher Jeune Winchester

“The City Centre wanted a contemporary look with lots of impact. I immediately thought of the pop art movement. I like to say my blocks were painted in the style of Keith Haring, but a little more touchy-feely. My piece, Bastions of Light, is really just colorful figures floating around the universe with inspirational words such as ‘share’ and ‘explore.’ I wanted the theme to be uplifting. I think art is the cornerstone of all civilized society. Public art is good. It is better when it is not only beautiful, but when makes one think.”—artist Terri Gregory

“The name for my piece is Always Chasing. To create this piece I used acrylic paint, stencils, sponges and brushes. The idea for this piece came to me as I pondered what is it that all of mankind has been chasing forever: time. I turned it into a game. One that if you look can never be won or completed.”—artist James Riggs