Elgin debuts kid-friendly Art Harvest festival

Last weekend, downtown Elgin was converted to a place of grown-up scariness and gore as thousands came to the annual Nightmare on Chicago Street. This Saturday, Oct. 29, things will become more gentle and family-friendly as the city government and downtown businesses launch a new festival called Art Harvest.

The event will be from 1 to 4 p.m. and will center on DuPage Court. Attendees are urged to come in costume, because 30 downtown businesses will open their doors to trick-or-treaters during the afternoon.

Besides Halloween-oriented activities for kids, Art Harvest will show adults a new database about "public artworks" that can be seen in the city.

Public art in Elgin

Amanda Harris, staff liaison to the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission who works part-time for the city as coordinator of the Elgin Art Showcase, said attendees can win prizes by going on a treasure hunt to visit each of the artworks listed on the new database.

Harris, who also works at Side Street Studio Arts, said Cultural Arts Commission members began thinking that Elgin has many highly visible sculptures, murals, and other works, but no organized way of letting people know what and where those are. So commissioners decided to start the database, which will be posted at www.cityofelgin.org.

"The public art database is a large undertaking and a very important early step in organizing and streamlining the public art stock and process in Elgin," said Erin Rehberg, a member of the Cultural Arts Commission and co-founder of Side Street Studio Arts.

"There are works of art all over Elgin, outside, in storage, and on display in buildings, that have been purchased or commissioned by the city over many years, and there is no central location for all of this information," Rehberg said. "It is important to work to compile these details in one place in order for the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission, city staff and, most importantly, folks in Elgin to understand, explore and enjoy all of these works of art."

"For each piece, the database will include an image of the piece, geolocation so people can find it, when it was installed, the name of the artist and information about the situation in which the piece was created," Harris said. "We'll tell why the artist did it, problems the artist experienced, etc.

"We had the goal of starting with three to five pieces in the downtown area and then expanding the list outward through the city."

She said the first four artworks cataloged - all downtown sculptures - will be Trygve Rovelstad's "Pioneer Memorial" near the Kimball Street Dam, which took half a century to finish; "Mother Sky," an impressionistic sculpture by Bobby Joe Scribner behind City Hall; and two metal sculptures by Steven Lockwood that are privately owned.

Harris said commission members hope the information on the city database also can be listed on several nationwide online databases of public artworks, which may attract people from outside the Elgin area.

Fun for kids

At the Art Harvest festival, events on DuPage Court will include a Paint Your Own Pumpkin area sponsored by Lifestyle Options; a Kids' Costume Contest sponsored by Side Street Studio Arts; Artist Pumpkin Carving sponsored by Biggers Chevrolet; a Yarn Bomb Spider Web sponsored by Elgin Knit Works; a Haunted Path; a not-too-scary haunted house; storytelling; and local artists speaking informally about the Elgin arts scene. Blue Box Cafe will provide coffee, hot chocolate and cider.

A list of businesses that welcome trick-or-treaters will be available at Art Central, or will be posted on the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission Facebook page.

"I think Art Harvest could become an annual event," Harris said. "We have no idea what to expect. If 1,000 people show up, we'll call it a festival."

If you go

What: Art Harvest, featuring art-oriented children's Halloween activities and a treasure hunt for public artworks

When: 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29

Where: Downtown Elgin, centering on DuPage Court

Cost: Free

Details: Visit the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/culturalartscommission/">Facebook page</a> for Elgin Cultural Arts Commission