What Happened at Big Picture 2019?
Artists put on a great festival in the Peoria Warehouse District with multiple events to celebrate.
Mural art was be a centerpiece with Ard Doko of the Netherlands and Andrè Petty of Peoria creating a mural of Richard Pryor, which now hangs at 1311 SW Adams. Festival goers got in on the action when they picked up a brush for the paint-by-numbers community mural of Dan Fogelberg. Chalk artists from around the area created works in 6'x6' squares where nearby lines gathered for making your own tie-dye t-shirt to face painting to the KidZone. Pure fun was had in the afternoon when people were given super soakers filled with paint to shoot at a truck. People watched an iron pour and witnesses a pottery firing.
Exhausted yet? Festival goers also could hear 16 contestants in the Original Acoustic Showdown and local favorites. The Illinois Mutual Performance Stage was alive with performers.
Big Picture Festival has a social conscious, too. The public was invited to bring canned goods to make a sculpture that was donated to the Peoria Food Bank. At the end of the day, folks could take home a piece of a graffiti wall created by the public.
Photos coming soon!
Activities at the Festival
Make Art: You could get involved by learning how to breakdance, join in the 100-drum drumming circle, pinch clay to make a little person, paint on the the take-home-a-piece graffiti wall, be in the costume contest, and even sing in the open-mic contest.
Watch Art: The Big Picture Awards were made when Black Dog Metal Arts heated up iron for a big iron pour. Nearby Chris Kukla and Lonnie Lawson demonstrated slip raku firing.
Performances: Creative Directors Jimmy Ulrich and Mary Rous will filled the performance stage with vibrant talent from around Central Illinois. "Last year's Big Picture Festival was one of the most special events I've seen in Peoria in many years. The event truly made me so proud to be a Peorian. Big Picture was a perfect example of how art is alive and thriving in Peoria. The Festival gives artists from all walks of life to not only the opportunity to collaborate, but to witness first-hand the great work others are creating. I left last year's Big Picture Festival uniquely inspired on a creative level, and challenged to spread my wings as a local artist,” said Bryan Blanks, 2018 Creative Director.
Murals? We’ve Got Them. This year local artist Andre Petty painted a portrait of Peoria’s favorite son—Richard Pryor on the Sous Chef building. Folks got involved by painting a Dan Fogelberg paint-by-number mural. Ard Doko, international artist from The Netherlands, returned to Peoria for his fourth mural at CT Gabbert's Art Park.
Professionals. Chalk artists competed for $1000 in cash prizes and after the public voted the winners are:
1st Place--Team Nithya, sponsored by Illuminate Aaron.
2nd Place--Team Joe Gabbert and Nick Carmack
3rd Place--Kelly Schrader
Better Together: One of the key guiding principles for Big Picture is collaboration. We create a stronger, vibrant community when we all pitch in. This year, the Giving Hands Donation Station accepted donations to area nonprofits, and people brought canned food to make a Giving Hands Sculpture that was donated to Peoria Food Bank.
New Expanded Kid Zone: Hands on, interactive, and full of fun.
Contests: The costume contest was hosted by Greg Batton and the Original Acoustic Showdown contest by Roxy Baker of WWCT 99.9 FM and Kindall Nelson of Peoria Music Live, and Jerry Kolb, of State & Water.
Draw for a Cause Chalk Painting
Chalk Art. We are half way to getting all the needed sponsors for the 2019 Draw for a Cause Chalk Art Competition. Sign up for artists is coming soon. We love to have your business featured as one of our sponsors. Here’s how to get involved: Donate $100 to Big Picture Initiative, a 501(c)(3), to sponsor an 8’x8’ square for a chalk artist at our second annual Draw for a Cause. You can send a check to Big Picture Initiative, 9115 N Picture Ridge Rd, Peoria 61615 or use the Donate button above.
The proceeds from donations will be used to give kids a unique experience of learning from professional artists in after school and summer school art programs. See what we did this summer thanks to our 2018 sponsors.
Money raised from the 2018 Draw for a Cause funded summer mural programs at four Peoria Public Schools, a community art project with the Peoria Park District, and a month-long filmmaking class at the Romain Art and Culture Center.
As a sponsor, you will get your business name and logo on a chalk square plus the Draw for a Cause signs posted at the festival. We’ll put your name on the BigPicturePeoria.org website plus showcase your name on promotional images at the Big Picture Peoria Film Festival.
Film Festival
The Big Picture Film Festival is expanding to two days in 2019 and now includes international/ national filmmakers as well as Central Illinois filmmakers.
“We’ll show all the films on a continuous loop at five different locations at businesses in the West Main area between 5 and 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11. We’ve been talking with businesses in the Main-Sheridan area such as the Broken Tree, Studios on Sheridan and the Lit on Fire book shop,” said Allison Walsh, program director.
“The idea is that people can move around that night and catch the films at different places if they wish. We’re hoping restaurants and stores in the area will stay open during that time,” she said.
On Saturday, Oct. 12, the film festival moves to the Peoria Riverfront Museum for an evening’s awards ceremony that follows the Big Picture Street Festival planned from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in a two-block area of the Warehouse District.
“With the award presentations, we’ll just be playing the best films in each category at the museum,” said Walsh.
That evening will also feature a special presentation to Connor Parkhurst, the local filmmaker who, earlier this summer, received a $3,000 grant to complete his film, now being edited, she said.
Big Picture will also soon award a $1,000 grant to a prospective Bradley film student this semester said Walsh. Big Picture secured the grant through State Sen. Chuck Weaver’s office.
Learn more here.