3/18/26
Today, our guest speaker was Mike Bock. Mike is both a long time Rotarian and a member of the Wheaton Fine and Cultural Arts Commission (https://www.wheaton.il.us/205/Fine-Cultural-Arts-Commission). The Commission is, perhaps, best known for the mural at the downtown plaza outside of the city’s French Market pavilion (geometric shapes within the mural spell out WHEATON).
and the wall mural at the College Avenue METRA parking lot.
Coming this summer are two new murals:
- In honor of America’s 250th birthday a historical mural timeline spanning the Prairie Path retaining wall north of the French Market pavilion. The idea is to depict significant Wheaton events along a 250-year timeline.
- Installation of a digital projection system in the plaza outside the French Market pavilion. Digital murals will be projected on the 55 ft. retainng wall so you would have the mural during the day, but then at night, it would transform into something else. Much like curating a playlist, projections can tie into downtown events as well as displaying student-designed projection art. A large-scale example is the Art on THE MART series. In that spectacle along the Chicago River, moving images — photographs, paintings or graphics — dance across the building formerly known as the Merchandise Mart.
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