Downtown Glen Ellyn is site of a new mural honoring artist Frida Kahlo. Work began Thursday, Sept. 24 on the 14-foot-high and 28-foot-wide mural gracing the wall of Olive ‘n Vinnie’s, located at 449 N. Main Street. The mural is scheduled to be completed later this week. The mural was designed by Glen Ellyn’s own Geoff Bevington and is being painted primarily by Bevington with some assistance by other artists and local residents, including children. The project is made possible thanks to the Village of Glen Ellyn, McAninch Arts Center, National Endowment for the Arts and Tim Elliott for their sponsorship of the mural.
Per Bevington, “Six months ago I pitched the project directly to the MAC’s Diana Martinez [‘Frida Kahlo: Timeless’ Executive Director/Director of the McAninch Arts Center] and the Dawn Smith [Executive Director] of the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce. My pitch included a sketch of a proposed mural, with the intention do ‘something big’ for the upcoming exhibit. To my surprise they said YES!” The project cleared the final hurdle when it was approved by the Village of Glen Ellyn Board.
Bevington’s artist statement explains, “While much of ‘life as we know it’ has been postponed, delayed or denied due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the arts continue to play an important part in providing hope and joy. Originally scheduled for 2020, the Frida 2020 celebration has been moved to the summer of 2021. This mural is planned for Fall of 2020 – to jumpstart the celebration of art, in the face of adversity. In honor of Frida Kahlo, the COD exhibition, and the entire Glen Ellyn Community, I wish to paint a mural of Frida with her celebrated floral wreath and flowers, using spray paints, cartooning, mural and painting techniques.”
Bevington credits his interest in art to the influence of maternal grandfather, John P. Delgadillo, Sr., who migrated from Mexico to Texas in the early 1900s. Delgadillo had been a professional artist in Hollywood for many years, working as a designer and title artist for Pacific Title and Art. Delgadillo lived more than 50 years in the Cypress Park area of northeast L.A. During his retirement in the 1970s, he began a project to engage local gang members to paint murals in an effort to channel their energy into art, and away from gang graffiti, and to encourage pride in community. Delgadillo painted more than 10 large murals with the gang members and became a revered member of his community for his efforts. His murals celebrated Mexican-American art and culture and were reminiscent of those painted by Kahlo’s husband, Diego Rivera. Delgadillo’s daughter/Bevington’s mother, was a first generation Mexican-American born in L.A. She loved Frida Kahlo’s art and spirit and shared it with Bevington and his siblings during their childhood.
Bevington, a resident of Glen Ellyn, has pursued art, comics, design and mural painting as an avocation for nearly 35 years. He has painted more than 100 murals across the U.S. and France, most in support of literacy efforts as a 30-year member of Cartoonists Across America. Mural sizes have ranged from small paintings to the side of a 53-foot tractor-trailer that was painted in front of and in cooperation with the Library of Congress. He also created a large mural in the International Museum of Cartoon Art in Angouleme, France with students from throughout France in celebration of the annual Festival of Cartoon Art. Local work includes commissions for Hoffman Estates and Glen Ellyn Sister Cities in celebration of shared cities in Angouleme and Le Bouscat, France. Bevington has also provided illustrations for the children’s books “Please Don’t Tease the Dragon - Silly Poems” by Dave Rudolf and “Steve the Dog the Winged Tiger” by Phil Yeh and Bevington. Bevington is a partner in an integrated marketing firm, Custom Direct, Inc. in Roselle Ill. During the day, he works with firms to market their products, services and ideas - including work with essential businesses making products to combat the pandemic.
About “Frida Kahlo: Timeless”
The exhibition, on view June 5 to Sept. 6, 2021, will be the largest Frida Kahlo exhibition in the Chicago area in more than 40 years, and is hosted by the Cleve Carney Museum of Art (CCMA) and the McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at the College of DuPage (COD). It will feature a 26-piece collection on loan from the Museo Dolores Olmedo as well as a multimedia timeline, 100+ photographic images from the artist’s life, a children’s area and a Frida Kahlo inspired garden designed by Ball Horticultural Company, enabling museum-goers of all ages to grasp an understanding of Kahlo’s life and work through a variety of contexts. The exhibition and related programming are organized by “Frida Kahlo: Timeless” Executive Director Diana Martinez (Director of the McAninch Arts Center) in collaboration with Justin Witte, “Frida Kahlo: Timeless” Curator (CCMA Curator). For more information, visit www.frida2021.org and on social media @CleveCarneyMuseumofArt.
The exhibition is presented by Bank of America and made possible through support from the College of DuPage Foundation, Milly and Alan Peterson, Ball Horticultural Company, Nicor Gas, Wight & Company, AeroMexico, the National Endowment for the Arts and the DuPage Foundation.
About the Cleve Carney Museum of Art
The late Cleve Carney provided a significant legacy gift to establish the Cleve Carney Art Gallery at College of DuPage. The gallery opened in February 2014 with its inaugural exhibition “Selections from Cleve Carney’s Art Collection.” The gallery will be expanding to a 2,500 square-foot museum, the Cleve Carney Museum of Art, scheduled to open in the summer 2021 with highly anticipated “Frida Kahlo: Timeless.” Exhibition. The museum will maintain the standards set by the American Alliance of Museums. More information can be found at TheCCMA.org and on social media @CleveCarneyMuseumofArt.
About the MAC
The McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located at 425 Fawell Blvd., 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 236-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), the outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season. The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. Visit AtTheMAC.org or facebook.com/AtTheMAC for more information.
About the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce
Founded in 1933 the Chamber is a not for profit organization 501(c) 6 service and action organization, comprised of members who invest in the economic, civic and cultural well-being of the community. Members help support the work of the Chamber, based on their resources, abilities and interests, with a broad scope of opportunities to serve. The Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce provides networking, education, marketing, community involvement and partnership opportunities to more than 300 member businesses, organizations, agencies and civic members. For more information visit glenellynchamber.com.
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The MAC’s 2020-2021 Season is made possible in part with support by DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville, WDCB 90.9 FM and the College of DuPage Foundation.
“Frida Kahlo: Timeless” is presented by Bank of America and made possible through support from Ball Horticultural Company, Nicor, Wight & Company.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462. Programs at the MAC are partially supported through a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.