Artistic flowers are blooming in Greektown Chicago this summer, with the neighborhood’s new outdoor art exhibit Flowering Grecian Urns opening on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Inspired by Chloris, the Greek goddess of flowers, the large Grecian urn sculptures are decorated in a floral and vine relief, and vibrantly hand painted. Participating artists include 17 local professional and emerging artists, as well as student teams from two high schools and 12 Greek schools across Chicagoland.
These 31 vibrant floral artworks can be found throughout the Greektown neighborhood along South Halsted Street from Madison Street to Van Buren Street. The exhibit will be on display from June 5 through May 2026.
Greek goddess Chloris was associated with spring, flowers and new growth. There are flower deities across the world that symbolize beauty, the renewal of life, and inspire a deep reverence for the many wonders of the natural world. This year’s Greektown sculpture model was created in the form of ancient Greek urns, which were ornately decorated and used to store water, food, wine and more.
“Greektown’s first public art project in 2006 was inspired by John Keats’ poem ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn,’ and nearly twenty years later we are taking this theme in a new direction with vibrant blooms. We hope people stop to ‘smell the flowers’ on their way through Greektown!” says Greektown SSA #16 Commission Chair Eve Moran, who also leads the Greektown Arts Committee.
Professional and emerging artists featured in this year’s Greektown art exhibition include Arturo Barrera, Annabelle Broeffle, Juan Cano, Alexandra Damato, Malika Jackson, Bonnie Loboda, Victoria Martin, James Mesple, Katie Meuser, Mark Nelson, Patricia Owsiany, Terry Poulos, Fernando Ramirez, Diane Thodos, Chuck Walker, Kiki Whitehead and Rebecca Zaragoza.
The Flowering Grecian Urns art exhibit is sponsored by Greektown SSA #16, the neighborhood’s business improvement district, in partnership with the Chicago Greektown Educational Foundation. Through this association, 12 Chicagoland Greek schools are participating in decorating the urn sculptures: Saint Demetrios Solon, St. George Greek School, Saint Haralampos Aristotle Greek School, St. John Pythagoras Greek School, Plato Academy, St. Nectarios Greek School, Holy Apostoles, Holy Cross Sophocles Greek School, St. John Guardian Angel School, Koraes Elementary School, St. Spyridon Plutarchos Greek School, and St. Demetrios Pythagoras Greek School.
Additionally, teams of student artists are participating from St. Ignatius College Prep and Holy Trinity High School.
More details on the Flowering Grecian Urns exhibit will be posted at greektownchicago.org.
Artist Bios (professional and emerging artists)
Arturo Barrera is an Assistant Principal in the Chicago Public School system and has enjoyed a 30-year career in art education (always encouraging his students to new ways of seeing and thinking). He has a B.F.A. from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Art Education; a M.F.A. from Northern Illinois University in printmaking and painting; and, a M.A. in Education Administration from Governor State University.
Annabelle Broeffle is a Menominee and Ojibwe multimedia fine artist, based in Chicago, who channels the depth of her ancestral knowledge into her art. Her art—encompassing painting and photography—blends her rich cultural background with a contemporary outlook. Drawing inspiration from indigenous social issues and cultural themes, her creations offer a deep and evocative exploration of the human experience.
Juan Cano is a contemporary graffiti artist from Logan Square. He is well-known for his “shattered glass” style. Cano participates in several art exhibitions each year, and is an art philanthropist to charitable causes. His latest mural will be unveiled on May 24 at Bookman’s Alley in Evanston, Illinois.
Alexandra Damato studied Southeast Asian art at the University of Colorado, Boulder. A thriving passion for art led Damato to travel through Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, where she deepened my understanding of diverse artistic traditions. Since 2016, she has been painting and exploring the rich cultural influences that shape her work.
Malika Jackson is an award-winning artist (a sculptor and a painter). She has exhibited extensively in solo and group shows, curated the Cultural Connection Fine Art Festival for decades, and her art is in the homes of collectors throughout the country. A devoted teacher for many years, Malika graduated in 2016 with a MFA/Low Residency degree from the School of the Art Institute and received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute. She also completed a ceramic workshop in Italy, and continues with studies at the Hyde Park Art Center.
Bonnie Loboda began painting as a young child and later learned to embroider fine and intricate pieces. Over the years, Loboda has stretched her imagination, taught herself many new techniques and played with different materials. Today, she paints on glass, canvas, wood, walls and more.
Victoria Martin is a large-scale mystical painter. She combines symbols from new science with illustrations of ancient magical texts. (FYI some of those prayers really work!). She also teaches art as a spiritual praxis at workshops and events. Martin holds a BA in Art Education and an MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute, Chicago.
James Mesple has exhibited his Classically Surreal paintings in local, national, and international shows. His work focuses on spiritual, visionary, mythological, and historical subject matter as a generative source for contemporary art. Mesple taught art at many notable institutions including Francis W. Parker school and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Katie Meuser is an abstract expressionist painter and currently an Artist-in-Residence at The Cliff Dwellers. She works predominantly with watercolor, acrylic, and oil pastels to make large-scale non-objective abstracts and florals with fun and unconventional color combinations. Meuser’s largest works are murals created for commercial spaces such as the Capital One Cafe on Southport Avenue in Chicago.
Mark Nelson was raised in a Navy family overseas, and began his formal arts education in the Republic of Panama where he was mentored in painting and live theater. On return to the continental USA, Nelson studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for a BFA and received a MFA at the University of Illinois in Chicago. His artwork can be found in private and public collections, including a mural at the US Embassy, Republic of Panama.
Patricia Owsiany holds a BA in Fine Arts at Southern Illinois University. She has participated in many shows in Chicago and New York City. Her last solo exhibit was a mini retrospective at Space 900 in Evanston. Owsiany was born in Chicago and continues to live and create here.
Terry Poulos is a writer, artist, archaeological historian, fractal geometer, and more generally, autodidact scientific investigator. Two of his sculptures have been exhibited at the National Hellenic Museum (NHM), and his Net Zero Coin numismatic is in the permanent collection of the British Museum and NHM. His works can be seen at Scientiquity.com.
Fernando Ramirez paints colorful scenes of Chicago’s famous locales, enjoys a unique niche in painting three-dimensional objects, and is a popular commission artist at Project Onward (a leading organization in disability arts). In 2021, he was selected by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to be the Back of the Yards Artist-in-Residence. Fernando has exhibited twice at the National Museum of Mexican Art, and in 2021, Fernando painted an Ex Voto Votice for the Día de Muertos - Offerings & Gratitude exhibit at MOMA. This ex voto will join the museum’s permanent collection.
Diane Thodos is a Chicago-based artist with a 40-year career in painting and printmaking that emphasizes both abstract expressionism and German expressionism. She is a 2002 Pollack-Krasner Grant recipient, has exhibited internationally, and has work in the collections of the Milwaukee Museum of Art, The David and Alfred Smart Museum, the State of Illinois Museum in Chicago, The Illinois Holocaust Museum and The Block Museum of Northwestern University, among many others places.
Chuck Walker is a Chicago artist whose landscape, figurative and still life paintings are each, in some way, haunting and mysterious. His work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Rockford Art Museum; Hyde Park Art Center; Chicago Cultural Center; Chicago Botanic Garden; Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art; and, Evanston Art Center. And Walker’s work is included in many private and public collections. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Kiki Whitehead is a first generation Greek American and, in childhood, began to study charcoal drawing and oil painting. She is the Marketing Director for Olympik Signs, Inc., and among other things, serves as the National Chairman of the non-partisan United Hellenic Voters of America (UHVA). A children’s book illustrator, Kiki’s art appears in “How Does My Mama Know?” and “Ollie Under It.”
Rebecca Zaragoza is a multifaceted Chicago artist. She engages in poetry, painting and sculpture. And, skillfully creates art from discarded materials. Art in all its many varieties, Zaragoza says, is simply an expression of feelings.
About Greektown Chicago
Greektown is a dining, nightlife and cultural district located in Chicago’s vibrant West Loop area. A popular destination for tourists and residents alike, Greektown offers the best sampling of Greek heritage outside of Athens—from authentic restaurants, cafes and shops to the National Hellenic Museum and annual Taste of Greektown festival. Greektown Special Service Area #16 is the business improvement district for the neighborhood, administered by sole service provider the West Central Association and guided by a volunteer commission of local business owners, property owners and residents. For more information, visit GreektownChicago.org.