Coles County Arts Council
Promoting the Arts in Coles County Since 1984
This public exhibition showcasing the work of Coles County Arts Council member artists was held in the main floor galleries of the Link Art Gallery in Paris, Illinois. An Opening Reception with light refreshments was held Friday, September 3, 2021, from 5:00 – 6:30 pm.
_pdf-image-000%20pc%20vert.jpg)
Charleston Takes Flight 25
Butterfly Sculpture Project
Featuring Public Installations and Works for Private Purchase
This project celebrating our town as the birthplace of the Urban Butterfly Initiative was completed in partnership with the City of Charleston, EIU, and local artists and charitable organizations, Arts CAN will install three semi-permanent, painted steel butterflies - symbols of a shared commitment to sustaining pollinator habitat and beautifying public spaces.
.jpg)
Project Partner Lorelei Sims shapes red hot butterfly bodies (click on video below)
My Movie-360p30
go to Lorelei Sims at Five points Blacksmith Shop who did the ironwork, fabrication, finishing and no small amount of creative consulting! Special thanks also to Suzie who kept us all on track!
​
Space and bases for large butterflies were provided by the City of Charleston and EIU, with special thanks to Tim Zimmer and Eric Wahls for facilitating their installation.
​
Financial support came from: Charleston Area Charitable Foundation, Coles County Arts Council, Coles County 100 Women Who Care. Thank you also to the artists and patrons who donated to Art in the Heart so we could raise some seed money!
​
Signage for the large sculptures was created by Kyle Cody and Ebenezer Tuah at EIU’s CSI Center for Student Innovation.
Sincerest Thanks...
Winners of the Public Sculpture Design Competition
Emma Edwards (Oakland)
Resilience in Flight
Butterfly plantings behind Carnegie Library
​
Jessica Mertz (Charleston)
Flora Aflutter
Lake Charleston Levee Trailhead
​
Jo Rich Vadas (Marshall)
Sapphire Flight
EIU Panther Trail near University Avenue
​
Sculptures go up end of July '25
Small Butterfly Sculptures Auction
Take home your own piece of this public project! Twelve smaller steel butterflies (wingspan 17") sporting painted designs chosen by our competition jury will be available in an online auction (July 4-August 4).
​
Fronts and backs of all the butterflies are featured here in a slideshow. Thanks to Chris Davies, the real things will be on display in the windows of Gallery 619 on the north side of the Square in July.
​
A link to our auction site will appear here as soon as the auction opens.
Meet Some of Our Artists
Jan Kappes describes herself as a lifelong lover of the Prairie, the Illinois heartland and rural life. She holds an Associates degree in Visual Arts from Parkland College and a BFA in two dimensional studio art and a Masters in sculpture, both from EIU. Jan's two small sculpture designs capture the mysterious and ethereal qualities of butterflies often seen only fleetingly as they flutter by, leading her to christen her fictional creations 'flutterbies'.
Emma Edwards holds a BFA in Visual Communication Design from the Herron School of Art and Design at Indiana University. She is a full time graphic designer for AESARA, a pharmaceutical company in North Carolina, but Emma also enjoys capturing natural subjects in oil or watercolors. Emma's design for the small butterfly she contributed to the project features native plants important to the sustenance of butterflies (Aster, Milkweed and Black Eyed Susan). The back of that butterfly depicts the chrysalis and caterpillar stages of a Monarch's life cycle. Emma's design for the sculpture to be featured behind the Carnegie Library includes a full sized Monarch on one side and a branch with a small Monarch resting in one corner. Emma's designs raise awareness of the current decline in Monarch numbers and celebrate the beauty of this iconic creature.
In progress shot of Edwards' large sculpture "Resilience in Flight")
Lauren McKee is a Charleston native, currently based in Chicago. She earned an MFA in painting from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, an MA in Art from EIU and A BFA from NIU. McKee's work uses patterned line systems as "a metaphor for time and space as well as memory" to explore themes of consciousness and metaphysical worlds. Two recurring themes in her work are labyrinths and repeating patterns. The labyrinths are pathways formed by wandering right angles and diagonal lines that explore and fill the space. McKee's butterfly features a front that is "a labyrinth, symbolizing a butterfly's flight path, painted in neutral grey tones mimicking a butterfly's camouflage. The back is a repeating pattern which began as a simple line system that abstractly resembled a butterfly, painted in bright rainbow spectrum to symbolize inclusivity and light. My hope is that my wavering hand drawn lines may even make the wings appear to flutter."
Caroline Bouc is a Pine Honors Presidential Scholar and Art Major entering her junior year at EIU. Her design "The Unity of Opposites" starts with the symmetry of butterfly wings as a way to explore balance and harmony. In a world of strong divisions, Caroline wanted to represent the idea that there are two sides to every story. The result is a butterfly with strong, emotive colors on one side and more serene, reflective hues on the other. Prominent "eyes" on the wings of many butterflies serve to scare potential predators and Caroline's design features "eyes" on each wing that can draw in viewers and catch their gaze in a kind of confrontation. "The Unity of opposites" is, in Caroline's words "a visual representation and depiction of harmony and the importance of opposition".
_JPG.jpg)
Jacqui Worden is now a resident of Cerro Gordo IL, but happily she continues to get involved in the art scene of her former home town! Jacqui is a potter, a painter, a writer, a snow sculptor, a naturalist and retired librarian , in short, a proper Renaissance woman. Her "Day & Night" butterfly features Illinois landscapes with wide horizons that stretch towards a tree-lined distance. The front side of the work shows fluffy cumulous clouds and bright flowers; the back represents dark, moonlit nights full of mystery.
Bing Cosmo is Lauren's faithful studio assistant