“Peace, Love, Smile” painted by North Central College students is one of 16 pickup trucks posted around downtown Naperville. This year’s sculpture theme is “Cruising Into Summer.”
The Downtown Naperville Alliance’s annual Summer Sculptures series is back, and the 2022 theme is “Cruising into Summer.” That’s why there are 16 colorful miniature pickup trucks temporarily parked around Naperville’s central shopping district as cheery, artistic pick-me-ups.
“It’s a great way to make people feel good and come and shop and dine and explore downtown Naperville,” said Danielle Tufano, executive director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance.
As in past years, local businesses and sponsors purchase prefabricated sculptures and then commission artists or organizations to decorate them. Previous years have featured dogs, sailboats and book sculptures.
“The ones that are downtown — the businesses — we try our best to get their sculptures near their businesses,” Tufano said.
That’s the case with Naperville Bank & Trust, which commissioned teenagers with The Alive Center to decorate a pickup truck. Kim Coyne, the bank’s senior vice president, said the Alive Center teens had free rein with their music-inspired design, which carries the title “Happiness is … A Road Trip with a Good Playlist.”
“We love the engagement we get from our own clients,” said Coyne, who also is the chair of the Naperville Downtown Alliance. “It acts as a billboard and destination for people to see our business and know we’re there.”
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The idea of temporary sculptures becoming a scavenger hunt-like outdoor art exhibit can be traced back to the 1998 Swiss “Cows on Parade” exhibit in Zurich, which subsequently made its North American debut in Chicago the following year. A bronze cow commemorating that 1999 exhibit is positioned outside the Chicago Cultural Center.
Since the cows became a tourist attraction for local and out-of-town visitors, many imitators in other municipalities followed. Naperville’s Summer Sculptures program previously was run by the nonprofit United Way until 2012. That’s when the Downtown Naperville Alliance took over (save for the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020).
Both Tufano and Coyne are already happy that the trucks have started popping up on people’s social media accounts. They’re also hoping for a good turnout for an official launch event on Saturday, June 18, which appropriately coincides with a free Classic Car Show.
“It’s a nice way for the community to come together in a positive way,” Coyne said. “We love this program.”
