Game time for the Windy City Thunderbolts on “Crestwood Community Night” was 5 p.m. Aug. 28.
But part of the fun started an hour earlier.
Visitors were invited to make their marks on a “Crestwood on Concrete” mural, which was sponsored by the Crestwood Arts Council.
Shepard High School art teacher Jen Glaz supervised the face painting of nearly 350 heads with various hair colors on an outside concrete wall of Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood.
The mural was designed to represent Crestwood’s diverse population.
Glaz said volunteers “from five (years old) to senior citizens” spent Saturdays and Sundays for three weeks getting the blank faces ready for young Crestwood artists to fill in on game day.
“It took long hours to get it done,” Glaz said.
She said the site of the mural directly below the recently-installed playground equipment is “bright and welcoming.”
Although the mural was designed with children in mind, some adults couldn’t resist getting in on the fun.
Arts Council member John Novy helped his 3-year-old daughter Layla add features to a blonde female head wearing a Cubs T-shirt.
Novy said he joined the Crestwood Arts Council because “stuff like this is fun.”
“It livens the place up,” he said.
The Arts Council was the brainchild of Crestwood village trustees Linda Madlener and Theresa Flynn who were looking for ways to “beautify our town a little more.”
“Theresa and I had talked about starting an arts council because we know there’s a lot of talent in town,” Madlener said.
She said “a great group of people” formed the council in just a few short months.
Flynn said although the Arts Council is “still taking baby steps,” the first Fine Arts Fair is scheduled for Nov. 13 at the Crestwood Recreation Center.
The Windy City ThunderBolts professional baseball team annually hosts “Crestwood Community Days,” offering free tickets to residents and a post-game fireworks show.
Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
