Flossmoor officials are looking to raise money to help with upkeep of the village’s “world class” collection of sculptures displayed in parks and along parkways. To do that, they’re looking to enlist residents who want to contribute some artwork of their own to the cause.
Mike Cheney, a longtime commissioner for the Flossmoor Public Art Commission and three-time Chicago Artist of the Year, said the group is seeking a variety of pieces to be auctioned to help pay for maintenance and improvements for Flossmoor’s public sculptures. Submissions are due by March 31.
“We’re looking for artists — actually families, kids, that kind of thing — to create garden art,” Cheney said. “People can use flower pots and stack them and paint them, or maybe create something with a windchime effect.”
But the art doesn’t have to be complex. “Simple flower pots, even,” will work, he added.
Flossmoor’s collection includes eight permanent pieces and two rotational sculptures on loan from artists for three year terms. Cheney said the annual cost of upkeep is in the “thousands of dollars,” and he hopes that this fundraiser can provide most of that funding.
“A minimum of $5,000 is our fundraising goal. The maintenance varies, but we have to keep these in good condition,” he said. “Rotational pieces are the artist’s responsibility.”
Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson said the sculptures all were funded through private donations, and the village has “worked tirelessly” with the Public Art Commission to curate and maintain the collection since its inception more than 20 years ago.
Cheney said Flossmoor’s sculptures constitutes a “world class collection.”
“Among others, we have a piece by Richard Hunt,” he said. “Richard Hunt is considered by many to be the greatest sculptor in America. The chief curator of the Guggenheim considers him to be the most innovative artist of the 20th century, and we have one of his pieces right here. You go to the Art Institute of Chicago, and the first thing you see at the top of the stairs belongs to this artist. He’s now doing a piece for the new Obama library.”
Other artists with work on display in Flossmoor include Bruce Beasley, Stephen Fischer, Howard Kalish, Terry Karpowicz, Mark Lundeen, Scott McMillin and Judith Shea, according to an online catalog of the village’s sculptures at https://www.artflossmoor.com/collection.
Several of the sculptures are concentrated in Leavitt Park, once home to Flossmoor’s first elementary school. Now it’s a grassy expanse filled with a playground, ballfields and a walking path that leads by several of the sculptures.
Cheney said he hopes to continue shining light on the collection through community engagement.
“We have started giving walking tours, and they’ve been well attended, so we want to keep the pieces as much as we can within a distance so people can walk,” Cheney said. “It’s an educational thing for the young people in the village to be exposed to contemporary art. On top of that, it’s just a beautiful thing that helps to make the village more interesting.”
And now, people young and old can contribute their own art to help ensure that Flossmoor stays visually interesting. More information and submission information is at www.artflossmoor.com.
Angela Denk is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
