The Fox Lake Village Board approved a resolution for the loan of a fine art masterpiece from the Great Lakes National Museum of the American Sailor.
The unanimous vote last week will bring the 72-square-foot mural, “Hong Kong,” by Buell Mullen, to an installation inside the village’s Parks and Recreation building.
“We are targeting the installation for later in September, with a formal dedication to follow,” said Deb Waszak, Fox Lake’s village administrator. “We received the requirements to host the mural. Jennifer Searcy, the museum’s executive director, and her team visited the village and approved the lakefront site.”
The loan agreement with the museum allows the village to exhibit the mural for a period of three years, through August 2025, with an option to extend the duration. As part of the agreement, the oil on stainless steel mural is covered with a $1 million insurance policy by the village. The painting is valued at $25,000.
Mullen who lived in Chicago, and later Highland Park, pioneered a form of painting on stainless steel and other metals which produced a luminescent shine while refracting light. She developed the process in the 1930s using a surface prepared by acid and etching to imbed the artwork into the metal. The process is still used today.
The two-piece murals of the London Pool and Hong Kong harbors were completed in 1942. Both murals were basically hidden from public view on Navy campuses until the 1990s.
The “London” mural was installed at the Lake County Building in Waukegan, nearly a year ago, through an agreement with the museum. A dedication ceremony was held for the 600-pound stainless steel painting.
The accompanying piece, “Hong Kong,” was mentioned at the county building ceremony by Searcy, who said, “If someone has a place for another 600-pound mural, we can help you out with that.”
The wheels were set in motion.
“I was on the board of the National Museum of the American Sailor prior to my tenure in Fox Lake,” said Waszak. “We asked the museum if we could display the second piece to bookend the county for Mullen’s work, and make it part of our art series programming.”
The costs of transporting the mural to the village’s Parks and Recreation building, maintenance and cleaning, as well as the eventual return, will be paid by the NMAS. As an official Department of the Navy museum, under the Naval History and Heritage Command, its galleries and collections are housed on the Great Lakes Naval Base.
“Displaying a Lake County artist who recognizes our military is a meaningful addition to the village’s art series,” Fox Lake Mayor Donnie Schmit said. “We are grateful to the Navy, and the museum, for this art loan.”
