First prize winner sketching directly on the fence with the help of his wife and son. He is a commercial artist and stained glass designer.

A "good husband" helps his wife with her design depicting concern about pollution and the clean future.

Not A Tom Sawyer in the Lot

By
Mary Nin, Art Supervisor Oak Park Recreation Department

Painting a fence may be hard work for some people, but the artists who recently decorated 1,000 feet of fence didn't need any Tom Sawyer to do some beautiful brushwork. They used their talents to produce attractive designs on the fence surrounding the future site of twin 35-story towers in the heart of the Oak Park business district —and had a wonderful time doing it.

An Oak Park business group, the Lake-Marion-Harlem Businessmen's Association, and the Oak Park Recreation Department first evolved the idea of covering the three-sided "dirty blue fence" with artists' and art students' designs. A contest with cash prizes for local artists was announced in the newspapers; the theme to be presented was "Challenges of the Future." Each aspirant had to submit a sample sketch 72" x 6" (scale: 1 inch equal to 1 foot) in any media he chose. The artists had only ten days before the deadline came and their scale drawings were due at the Recreation Department. Time was of the essence; it would not be long before Indian summer fled.

A panel of three artists well-known to the community judged the entries, awarding 2/3 of the total possible points in this preliminary viewing. The rest of the points were awarded after the designs were completed in full scale on the fence.

A first prize of $250, a second of $100, and seven prizes of $50 each were offered by the Businessmen's Association and the Chamber of Commerce. The prizes were presented to the winners at the Chamber of Commerce in a brief ceremony, attended by businessmen, Recreation staff, the Village Manager, Village Trustees, and the Recreation Board members.

The preparation of the fence for the artists' designs was a bit more Tom Sawyerish—high school students were hired by the Oak Park Recreation Department to roll the fence first with outdoor latex white paint. They became so enthusiastic when they were able to help the artists transfer their designs, that they asked to have their own space on the fence. The two Oak Park high schools collaborated to create an exciting design,

Illinois Parks and Recreation 6 January/February, 1974

Elementary school children, with all their youthful inventiveness, had the best chance to create the wildest space ships and to project themselves into the world of tomorrow.

which now adorns the south side of the block, along with the grade-school children's art work. These paintings were all done after the contest artists finished, utilizing the same brushes, the excess paint, and the other equipment so generously supplied by the Businessmen's Association and the Chamber of Commerce.

The weather was in our favor—we had a beautiful Indian summer week. The Lake-Forest block looked like an Art Fair, with the artists, their relatives and friends all busy painting, while the rest of the commuity and visitors watched, intrigued by the idea of each artist's creation.

It really was a community affair. Newspapermen were captivated by the "most beautiful fence in the West Suburbs," and gave it the best in publicity—all front pages.

If you come to the Lake-Forest-South Boulevard site in Oak Park this blustery winter, you will have the pleasure of viewing a Fine Arts fence-show that will "warm" your day.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 7 January/February, 1974