Pete’s Fresh Market and the Oak Park Area Arts Council are looking for artists to produce a temporary construction mural to be displayed along the chain link fence at 644 Madison St.
The new grocery store at 640-728 Madison St. is now under construction. In July, the Oak Park village board approved a 16-month extension for the project that’s been over six years in the making. It should be open by December 2025.
But in the meantime, Pete’s developers made a $22,000 donation to the Oak Park Area Arts Council for temporary artwork to be displayed at the site.
“Anything we can help you with, we will,” Eugene Grzynkowicz, the project manager, told the village board at its Oct. 1 meeting.
The selected artwork will be printed on to a mesh material on the chain link fence surrounding construction. Artists have until Nov. 1 to submit a design, and the winner will be chosen Nov. 11 and notified by email.
Each artist, who must be 18 years or older, can submit up to three original designs along with their completed application to the Oak Park Area Arts Council. To qualify, the artwork must be able to be printed on to a banner that’s 10 feet wide by 6 feet high.
The stipend for the mural is $10,000. The winning artist will receive half after signing a contract and before printing the mural, and the other half after completion.
According to the guidelines, the work must be original and cannot have wording other than the Pete’s Fresh Market logo. A panel of judges will review the applications and designs based on artistic merit, appropriateness to public presentation and originality.