The Park Ridge Civic Orchestra “Bernstein 100” concert was a centennial celebration of Leonard Bernstein. This electrifying image of Bernstein expresses the passion and the energy he brought to the art of conducting. Works by Aaron Copland and John Williams were also featured in the force of American music concert.
Wrigley, Our New Sheltie Puppy
My wife and I just got a bright eyed and bushy tailed sheltie puppy we named “Wrigley,” bred from a small farm near Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was a bit of transition for Wrigley to go from a farm with three horses to a sleepy suburb of Chicago. But the puppy is a bundle joy and has become a beloved neighborhood dog in record time.
Years ago, I did an award winning poster for a sheltie breeder who opened a small local pet care boutique called “Heavenly Pet Center” in Park Ridge. I would later get our first purebred sheltie puppy from the couple and name her “Niko.” Niko was adorable and she loved herding my young children in the back yard.
While walking Niko on a trip to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill Kentucky, she spotted a flock of sheep. The herding instinct kicked in, Niko’s true destiny was herding these sheep, simply amazing. — Rex
2018 NPR - WGLT’s Sound Ideas Interview on “Frederic Goudy: The Titan of Type” Exhibit
From the NPR studios on the Illinois State University campus, I joined Mike McCurdy of WGLT’s Sound Ideas about the “Frederic Goudy: The Titan of Type” Exhibiton display at the McLean County Museum of History. Listen to the full interview here!
My mentor: Artist Bernadine Medley at exhibit opening program for “Frederic Goudy: The Titan of Type”
The opening program for “The Titan of Type” exhibit was full of friends and family. A special joy was seeing my mentor artist Bernadine Medley.
Ms. Medley is, a brilliant oil painter of portraiture and landscapes. Her watercolor’s style is joyful, colorful and fluid. Her architectural watercolor renderings have been used to build hotels across our nation.
She is famous for painting murals including the St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Memphis murals commissioned by entertainer Danny Thomas.
I met Bernie by chance, home from college on a summer break trying to decide what to major in — accounting or art. My mom suggested I go see Bernie’s one woman art exhibit in Decatur, Illinois.
The show was remarkable and I somehow got the courage to call her for advice. From that moment on Bernie has been my mentor, champion and friend.
“Frederic Goudy: The Titan of Type” McLean County Museum of History October 13 - November 24, 2018
Central Illinois native and Park Ridge resident Rex Parker will present an original, illustrated program, “The Titan of Type,” honoring legendary typeface designer Frederic W. Goudy at 10 a.m. on October 13th at the McLean County Museum of History, 200 North Main Street, Bloomington, Illinois.
Thirty of Parker’s original artworks, designed as posters and inspired by Goudy and his Arts & Crafts era, will be on display at the McLean Museum, Oct. 13 through Nov. 24.
Parker also will be interviewed by Mike McCurdy of WGLT, the Bloomington-Normal affiliate of National Public Radio.
Parker’s dynamic career as a Chicago-area graphic designer and his rural origins in Moweaqua, a small town in central Illinois, have both inspired his affinity with Goudy, another native of the area whose design work took him to Chicago, New York and other major cities during the burgeoning early industrial era.
Parker also shares another connection with the famous type designer. Goudy’s time in the once-rural Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois brought him in touch with other Arts & Crafts-era talents based in Park Ridge, notably Clara Barck Welles and her renowned Kalo Silversmiths.
“It’s fascinating to me that memorable creative work has often been done in small and rural communities, not just in the major cosmopolitan areas,” Parker says. “We need to support the arts in education everywhere, so that tomorrow’s creative people can develop and share their talents with all of us.”
