About

Our Mission

Big Picture Initiative’s mission is to build a thriving and vibrant community for all by using arts and creativity as a driver for social change, economic development, and wellness. We do this by providing arts-based solutions, promoting and supporting artists and arts initiatives, and advancing arts education.

Our Vision

Moved by our deep conviction of the economic, social, and cultural value of the arts, Big Picture Initiative envisions a community where: The arts are recognized as essential to the success and sustainability of our collective future;
·       Artists have the support, opportunity, and financial security to thrive;
·       The arts are prioritized in local and state decision-making;
·       People feel a sense of belonging, connection, and community pride; and
·       Every person, no matter their age, ability, or background can participate in and find expression through the arts.

Board of Directors

Mark Misselhorn

President

Mark is a proud lifelong Peorian who grew up in the Peoria...

Mark Misselhorn

Mark is a proud lifelong Peorian who grew up in the Peoria Public School system before earning both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in architecture from the University of Illinois at Champaign–Urbana. He practiced architecture in Peoria for more than 30 years prior to his retirement, gaining firsthand insight into the powerful impact that thoughtful building design and urban planning have on quality of life. Through his professional and civic work, he has also seen the meaningful role public art plays in strengthening communities.

Mark currently serves as President of the Big Picture Peoria Board and sits on the Planning Committee of the Downtown Development Corporation. He is also an active volunteer at Sophia’s Kitchen in Peoria. His past leadership roles include Chair of the City of Peoria’s Downtown Advisory Commission, Vice Chair of the City’s Planning and Zoning Commission, committee member for the Richard Pryor Statue Project, and board member of both the Madison Preservation Association and the Heart of Peoria Commission.

Outside of his community involvement, Mark enjoys traveling, cheering on Arsenal soccer, and has been a dedicated St. Jude runner for more than 15 years. He feels extremely lucky to be married to Maggie Misselhorn (yes, she wrote this bio), and together they are proudly—and routinely—bossed around by their dogs, Lola, Norman, and Howie.

Maggie Misselhorn

Vice President

Maggie is a life-long Peorian and is very proud...

Maggie Misselhorn

Maggie is a lifelong Peorian who is deeply proud of her community and the people who make it thrive. She is the retired Principal and Owner of Simantel, a nationally recognized marketing firm located in the heart of downtown Peoria on the Riverfront. Over a 25-year career in marketing, Maggie led strategic and creative development for global B2B brands. A creative at heart, her passion for art began in high school while working at a local art gallery. She believes Big Picture Peoria uniquely brings together her love of community and the arts, with powerful potential to generate lasting cultural and economic impact.

Maggie was named a 2014 recipient of the 25 Women in Leadership Award and received the Mayor’s Outstanding Community Service Award in 2013. She has served as Vice President of the Peoria Riverfront Association, Team Lead for the Global Branding Committee of AMIN Worldwide, and as a member of the OSF St. Francis Community Advisory Board.

In addition to serving as Vice President of Big Picture Peoria, Maggie is an active volunteer at Sophia’s Kitchen in Peoria. Her past community involvement includes the Peoria Humane Society, St. Jude Running Central to Peoria Run, and the Peoria Fine Art Fair. She is married to Mark Misselhorn, who feels incredibly lucky to have her as his wife, and together they are consistently outnumbered—and overruled—by their dogs, Lola, Norman, and Howie.

Doug Leunig

Founder

Doug had an early-life experience of winning a prize for a cartoon...

Doug Leunig

Doug had an early-life experience of winning a prize for a cartoon he drew and it set him on the path of art. Doug had a good role model in his father who worked as a successful commercial artist and funded Doug’s BFA at University of Iowa where Doug studied photography and sculpture.

After 30 years as a corporate photographer for a Fortune 100 company, Doug realized that the inspiration of his childhood art background was still with him and he wanted to make it possible for children today to have art in their lives. He and his wife, Eileen, began by selling their fine art photography and donating their profits to arts organizations . In 2018 co-founded Big Picture Initiative to afford a creative opportunity for others.

Doug serves as President of Big Picture Initiative and enjoys coming up with creative ideas that find fertile ground in the new arts renaissance of Central Illinois. Doug is the artist who created “Abraham Blue,” the 50-foot portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the Peoria County Courthouse, that launched Big Picture in 2018.

Eileen Leunig

Treasurer | Secretary | Founder

Eileen discovered the joy of art early in life and is dedicated to giving...

Eileen Leunig

Eileen discovered the joy of art early in life and is dedicated to giving everyone the chance to experience and participate in the arts. For the past 10 years, Doug, her husband, and Eileen have donated profits from the sale of their own art to arts organizations. In 2018, they founded Big Picture Initiative to be able to expand the opportunity of art for all.

Big Picture is founded on the belief that public art is essential to a vibrant community and that children should have the chance to help create public art. To that end, Eileen and Doug have partnered with Peoria Public Schools and the Peoria Park District in having artists work with students to create murals for their schools and for public spaces. They also have helped create and install new murals in the community.

Eileen is the secretary and treasurer of Big Picture and is instrumental in pulling together all the artists and arts groups that join together to give the community a day of arts at the Big Picture Peoria Street Festival on the second Saturday of October.

“I think of the festival as one big arts installation with community painting, music, performances, and more. My hope is that people from different walks of life and in different parts of our community come together for the common goal of making Peoria a better place through the arts.” Eileen can be reached at bigpicturepeoria@gmail.com

Paroma Banerjee

Board Member

Paroma is a STEAM advocate working at Caterpillar as a...

Paroma Banerjee

Paroma is a STEAM advocate working at Caterpillar as a project manager with a masters degree in electrical engineering. Since moving to Peoria over 15 years ago, she is eager to share more about the city’s easy access to a diverse arts community, strong volunteer network, and rich history.

Currently serving as board president of the Center of Prevention of Abuse, she is also past president of the Society of Women Engineers Central Illinois Professional Section, part of Impact Central Illinois, and an active member of the Peoria Print Club. In the Caterpillar Asian Indian Community she led “Experience India” fundraisers for the Center for Prevention of Abuse that included a dance collaboration with the Mythili Dance Academy and Central Illinois Ballet.

Outside of work and volunteering, Paroma enjoys sharing her love of printmaking, craftsmanship, hiking, reading, dance, live music and travel with her husband and son. She is never bored.

Jessica Bingham

Board Member

Jessica Bingham is an artist, curator, and mother. Her artwork...

Jessica Bingham

Jessica Bingham is an artist, curator, and mother. Her artwork has been exhibited at The McLean County Arts Center, Bloomington, Illinois; Contemporary Art Center of Peoria, Peoria, Illinois; Woman Made Gallery, Chicago; Neon Heater, Findlay, Ohio; Public Space One, Iowa City; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa; and Heartbreaker, Peoria, Illinois, among others.

Bingham is the director and co-curator of Project 1612, an artist-run experimental space in Central IL co-founded in 2015 with Alexander Martin. Together they have co-curated nearly thirty exhibitions and have organized several community- based film screenings and fundraisers. Additionally, Bingham has curated solo and group exhibitions at University Galleries of Illinois State University; Super Dutchess (currently Below Grand); and Illinois Central College; as well as supervised exhibitions and the Campus Artwork Project at Bradley University Galleries. She is currently serving on the board of pt.fwd, a not-for-profit organization based in Bloomington, IL presenting performances of contemporary music and sonic arts.

Bingham studied abroad in Florence, Italy in 2011 at Linguaviva School of Italian Language and Charles H. Cecil Studios. She earned her BA in Studio Art in 2012 and completed a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow ship in 2013 all from Monmouth College. She completed her MA and MFA in Painting at Bradley University in Peoria, IL in 2014 and 2016. Her work can be found at JessicaBinghamArt.com.