"The Sun King" Shines on the Kickapoo Trail

The Sun King

with artist, Steven Maeck

The Public Art League welcomes The Sun King by Steven Maeck (Decorah, Iowa) to the Kickapoo Bike Trail in Urbana.  The Sun King stands 14.5 feet tall and is made of welded steel.

From the artist:

"Since 2002, I have been designing and fabricating sculptural work either fully or partially composed of iron and steel.  The focus of my recent work has been almost exclusively in the utilization of industrial detritus which I alter and/or recombine in such a manner as to create work that is not only resonant and original, but manifests the aura of having been created from base raw material, i.e. cast bronze.  Of course there is, and should be, at least a subliminal sense of the processed heritage of the metal."

Thank you to the Forest Preserve Friends Foundation for sponsoring this piece and to the Champaign County Forest Preserve District for coordinating its installation.

The Sun King

by Steven Maeck

"A New Leaf" Dedication in The Botanical Garden

Beauty Preserved

The Waterfall Unveiling

The Champaign County Forest Preserve invites you to come out and see the new waterfall and pond at the Mabery Gelving Botanical Garden at Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve.  The event will also reveal "A New Leaf" by Don Lawler, a gift through the Public Art League from Rosann Gelvin Noel.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

5:30-7:30 p.m.

Dedication Ceremony at 6:30 p.m.

Hors d'oveuvres, music, and cash bar

Mabery Gelvin Botanical Garden

950 N. Lombard

Mahomet, Illinois 61853

RSVP by Tuesday, September 3 to 217-586-3360 or hq@ccfpd.org

A New Leaf

by Don Lawler

"A New Leaf" Gets a New Home

A New Leaf

by Don Lawler (Stephensport, KY)

The Public Art League is proud to share the news that A New Leaf (by artist, Don Lawler) has been purchased and installed at the Mabery Gelvin Botanical Garden at the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve.  The sculpture was purchased by the Forest Preserve Friends Foundation with a gift from Rosann Gelvin Noel and placed in the garden.

The sculpture was originally leased by the Public Art League in 2016 with the help of a site sponsorship by the City of Urbana.  The piece was displayed near the parking area at the corner of Race and Water Streets in Urbana until it was relocated to its new home in the botanical garden.

Rosann Gelvin Noel was a fan of Don Lawler's work.  In addition to A New Leaf, the Noel family was the site sponsor of another of Lawler's works (Ripples) in 2012.  The Public Art League now owns Ripples which you can find displayed in One Main Plaza in Downtown Champaign.

Pay a visit to the Mabery Gelvin Botanical Garden (near the Museum of the Grand Prairie) in the Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve to enjoy this beautiful piece.

A New Leaf

by Don Lawler