ART FOR THE HEART

Art

Heart for the

Heart ST. CHARLES OUTDOOR MURALS INFUSE DOWNTOWN WITH COLOR AND INSPIRATION By Diane Krieger Spivak Photos provided by St. Charles Business Alliance

The St. Charles Business Alliance has taken the legendary adage “A picture is worth a thousand words” to the streets with this year’s “Bloom in STC,” an outdoor art installation of five murals throughout the historic downtown. Two of the murals were created in-house by Alliance staff. The remaining three are works of New York artist Steffi Lynn, whose signature designs are attached to lots of big name brands, from Kate Spade to National Geographic to Life is Good. Installed in April, the pieces reflect a positive, happy and fun spirit. “Art is really important to the St. Charles community,” says Jessica Hudec, the Alliance’s marketing manager. “The murals are all very colorful and they reference positive affirmation to drive people to the community of St. Charles.”

From flowers and radiant beams to a playful fox highlighting the Fox River Valley, the pieces are all on exterior walls in the following locations:  YOU MADE IT! (Steffi Lynn), 311 N. Second St.  YOU LOOK GOOD (Steffi Lynn), 301 W. Main St.  RADIATE POSITIVITY (Steffi Lynn), 7 S. Second Ave.  BLOOM IN ST. CHARLES (Alliance staff), 132 S. First St.  JUST KEEP GROWING (Alliance staff), 16 N. Riverside Ave.

“We had followed Steffi Lynn for a while and really liked the colors she used in her murals,” says Hudec. “She’s famous for her ‘Have a Nice Day’ campaign. We liked her design style and she ran with it. It was great working with her.” Steffi Lynn Tsai created “You Made It,” “Radiate Positivity” and “You Look Good” specifically for the St. Charles community.

GET A VIRTUAL LOOK AT THE MURALS AT WWW.STCALLIANCE.ORG/MURALS, OR VISIT IN PERSON!

Three are vinyl stickers, and two are on sheet metal, explains Hudec. “The reason we did that is that we do have a lot of historic buildings in St. Charles, and we want to preserve them and not damage them.” Hudec says the Alliance hopes to have the murals in place for at least a couple of years. Steffi Lynn is best known for her murals, but has also been tagged by numerous companies to design a myriad of product lines — think Converse, Dr. Martens, Olay, Samsung, Pottery Barn and more. She even has her own makeup line at Ulta Beauty. A Texas native, she graduated from the Pratt Institute and has remained in New York. She interned at Seventeen Magazine and began freelancing while still in school. “I just love to create,” says Tsai, whose inspiration, she says, comes mostly from everyday interactions, “and just people and day-to-day life. I think a lot of it comes from positivity in my own life. I draw from myself because somebody out there may need lifting up. Everyone is hustling and bustling all the time, especially in New York. I grew up around nature, so I’m inspired by earth, nature and flowers.” One of Tsai’s favorites is a project she created this year for National Geographic for Earth Day. She was one of only four artists commissioned nationwide to paint their own mural. Hers was located in Brooklyn, depicting the Amazon rainforest. “I think any project I’ve ever done for Earth Day has been really important to me,” says Tsai. Her three St. Charles murals reflect that same commitment to nature, in flowers, sun and animals, and all things uplifting. “For the ‘Radiate Positivity,’ mural I just wanted people to feel good energy. The fox mural was about St. Charles and the river and the area, and ‘You Look Good’ was just about ‘Hey, you look nice today.’ ‘Oh! Thanks for the compliment!’” Tsai says her work’s intent is to “remind people how great our planet is. We forget to go outside and we’re surrounded by buildings. We need to take a moment to relax.”