Join us for a celebration of history and art!
See art in the making at our 2nd annual “Paint Historic Belleville” Plein Air Art Auction and fair! On Saturday, September 21,* twelve regional artists will paint en plein air (French for “in the open air”) at some of Belleville’s most beloved historic sites. Their original paintings will be auctioned to raise money for the Belleville Historical Society at the Historic Garfield Street Saloon at 1 p.m.; the artists and their works will be introduced at that time.
You are invited to visit the sites to watch the artists as they paint. Each artist will be accompanied by a fifth or sixth grade student from Belleville District 118. Chosen by their art teachers, the students will create paintings of their own, with help from the plein air artists.
A family-friendly street fair with food, crafts and live music will fill the street near the Garfield’s building starting at 10 a.m.
RSVP and invite your friends on Facebook »
Event Details
What: 2nd Annual “Paint Historic Belleville” Plein Air Art Auction and fair
Date: Saturday, September 21, 2013 (Rain date: Saturday, October 5)
Schedule:
- 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. Artists paint at 12 historic sites throughout Belleville (listed below)
- 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Street Fair at Garfield Street and Mascoutah Avenue with live music by Dade Farrar, crafts, face painting, refreshments and more
- 1 p.m. Auction of paintings at the Historic Garfield Street Saloon (633 E. Garfield St.); proceeds benefit the Belleville Historical Society
Artists and Locations:
1. Signal Hill Boulevard Street Scene (near Signal Hill School)
40 Signal Hill Place | Belleville, IL 62223
Artist: Susan Rogers | Site and artist information »
2. Lindenwood University Main Building
2600 W. Main St. | Belleville, IL 62226
Artist: Nancy Frederich | Site and artist information »
3. 10th Street Baking Company
1021 W. Main St. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Marilynne Bradley | Site and artist information »
4. St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Façade
211 S. 3rd St | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Carolyn Karasek | Site and artist information »
5. Firestone Auto Center
232 W. Main St. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Brad Eilering | Site and artist information »
6. Old Washington Theatre
228 W. Main St. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Susan Winters | Site and artist information »
7. Turner Hall / Old YMCA North Façade
15 N. 1st St. | Belleville, IL 62220
1st St. at corner of W. A St.
Artist: Gary Karasek | Site and artist information »
8. Weyhaupt Brothers Meat Packing Company Sign
1510 Lebanon Ave. | Belleville, IL 62221
Artist: Bill Evans | Site and artist information »
9. Old Bell City Battery Store
1030 Freeburg Ave. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Joyce Neutzling | Site and artist information »
10. Historic Garfield Street Saloon
633 E. Garfield St. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Michael Anderson | Site and artist information »
Due to an out-of-town engagement, artists at the following locations will not be on-site painting on September 21. Their paintings will, however, be available for sale at the auction at 1 p.m.
11. Old Lincoln Hotel / Original Oddfellows Hall
100 N. High St. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: David Cornell | Site and artist information »
12. Renner Funeral Home / Adam Gintz Mansion
120 N. Illinois St. | Belleville, IL 62220
Artist: Shawn Cornell | Site and artist information »
Street Scene: Signal Hill Boulevard
“The Boulevard” is an extension of South 95th Street and was the showcase of the new Signal Hill Park addition platted in 1904 at the time of the St. Louis World’s Fair. Construction of the homes started soon after and it is reported that some of the homes used building materials recycled form the World’s Fair. Many of the original residents were businessmen from East St. Louis. The grandeur of the tree-lined boulevard with its elegant homes remains to this day.
Street Scene: Signal Hill Boulevard
Near Signal Hill School
40 Signal Hill Place
Belleville, IL 62223
Artist Information: Susan Rogers
Professional artist Susan Rogers uses soft pastels to create landscape paintings. She is quick to point out that pastel is not to be confused with colored chalk. Chalk is a limestone substance impregnated with dyes whereas pastels are pure pigment and are very permanent when framed properly. Rogers enjoys working outdoors where nature serves as her instructor. Her goal is to allow her painting to reflect her feelings about the subject she has captured on her canvas. The self-taught Rogers preserves in her artwork the disappearing landscape that is being overtaken by urban sprawl. Although she received a degree in Radiologic Technology from Southwestern Illinois University and utilized her skill, she continued to pursue her love of art by attending workshops and working with well-known artists for the past 25 years.
It is her wish that her paintings slow down the fast pace of our everyday lives as well as promote concern for Green Issues by capturing her impressions of the scene she is painting. Whether painting plein air or painting in her studio, it is important to the artist to work with “efficiency.” Simplifying what she observes allows Susan to capture the essence of the light and magic that drew her to the scene in the first place. She has been the recipient of an Award of Excellence at the Art Fair at Queeny Park in St.Louis, and a Best of Category at the Midwest Salute to the Arts in Fairview Heights, IL. She is a member of the Illinois Artisans, Gateway East Artists Guild, the Pastel Society of America and co-founder and member of the Gateway Pastel Artists in St. Louis, and is represented by the Illinois Artisans Gallery near Rend Lake in Whittington, IL.
Lindenwood University: Main Building
Local architects Frank Riester and Otto Rubach designed the main building of the Belleville Township High School at 2600 West Main Street, which was dedicated in 1917. They accented the brick structure with terra cotta and mosaic tile. Beginning in 1946, the campus was shared by the newly formed Belleville Junior College. Population growth in the school district led to the opening of a second high school campus in 1966, and the original high school became known as Belleville Township High School WEST. When the high school moved to a new location on Frank Scott Parkway in 2003, the campus was acquired by Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Missouri. Lindenwood developed it into the Lindenwood University Belleville campus and began offering classes in 2009.
Lindenwood University: Main Building
2600 W. Main St.
Belleville, IL 62226
Artist Information: Nancy Friederich
Since 2004 Nancy Friederich has served as an Adjunct Professor Art at Southwester Illinois College. She also has created a home studio where she teaches group and individual classes in watercolor, oil painting, drawing, mixed media and photography. The multi-talented artist also enjoyed the opportunity to spend two weeks in Tuscany, Italy, and more recently in Peru, to exercise her talent of plein air art painting.
Nancy’s education includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1996 and a Master of Arts Degree in Painting from Fontbonne University in St. Louis in 2002, and from the same university received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting in 2004.
Art on the Square and the Midwest Salute to the Arts are among the many art shows in which her art has been exhibited. The Gateway East Artist Guild has also recognized her talent by frequently awarding commendations to her works in watercolor, oil, and photography.
10th Street Baking Company
Frank C. Espenhain, a second-generation merchant in the Village of West Belleville, had achieved much financial success as part owner of dry goods stores in downtown Belleville, Terre Haute, Indiana, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (In 1882 the Village of West Belleville merged with the city of Belleville.) Although long gone from West Belleville in the 1890’s, he maintained a business interest there and commissioned the Espenhain Block to be built on the West Belleville Public Square at the corner of West Main Street and North Silver Street (now North 11th Street), to house retail stores on the first floor and apartments on the second. The cast iron front was custom made and displays his initials: FCE. Many businesses have occupied the building, including a drug store, butcher shop, post office, and dentist’s office. In 2000, Don Harwerth opened the 10th Street Baking Company at this location and it continues to thrive today, just 11 blocks from Belleville’s Public Square.
10th Street Baking Company
1021 W. Main St.
Belleville, IL 62220
Artist Information: Marilynne Bradley
Marilynne Bradley’s paintings of St. Louis area landmarks, including restaurants and neighborhood establishments in Belleville are familiar sights at local art fairs. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Webster University in Webster Groves, MO, where she is currently serving as a faculty member. Marilyn’s curiosity of the world is evident in her watercolor paintings. Each scene comes to life in a burst of excitement and drama. Design and vibrant colors dominate her works and reflect the many moods created by the relationship between glowing light and dark patterns.
Marilyn was selected for inclusion in the Best of American Watercolor Artists Volume III in January of last year. Her works are featured annually in solo exhibits at the Componere Gallery in St. Louis. She is a member of the St. Louis Artist Guild, and her watercolors have been exhibited in numerous exhibitions including the Watercolor Society of Houston, the St. Louis Watercolor Society, and the Missouri Watercolor Society. She was awarded the Goetsch Prize and the Art Mart Award in two of the St. Louis Artists Guild Exhibits.
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
The hospital, at 211 South 3rd Street, traces its origins to 1875 when three members of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis came to Belleville from Muenster, Germany, to nurse the sick. They set up shop in an old school house of St. Peter’s parish. They erected a hospital near downtown in 1880 on the grounds where St. Elizabeth’s stands today. For over eight decades it operated as the only full-service hospital in Belleville. During 1952-1958 the sisters constructed their new facility. In 1956, the emergency department and operating rooms moved into the top floor of the new eight-story addition. Later building projects included what is now known as the Prairie Heart Institute, completed in 2000. Today the hospital is an affiliate of the Hospital Sisters Health System. The Mid-Century Modern façade on the east elevation of the hospital is one of the best examples of that style of architecture in the St. Louis area.
St. Elizabeth’s Hospital
211 S. 3rd St
Belleville, IL 62220
Artist Information: Carolyn Karasek
The daughter of the late prominent Belleville artist Edward Karasek, Carolyn Karasek-Needles has found art to be a source of joy since childhood. After a career in nursing, she returned to the campus of Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Communication in Textiles. Wanting to hone her drawing and painting skills, in 2002 she again returned to school and received a Masters of Arts in illustration from Syracuse University in New York. Finally in 2009, Carolyn completed her studies at the University of Hartford earning a Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration that allowed her to pursue her passion of creating art to tell stories. For the artist, art is an extension of language, expression without words, and parts put together to make a whole. It is the people and the animals she paints who speak to the viewer through their painted eyes and the position or action of the painted body. For Carolyn art is alive.
In the late nineties she created her own greeting card company, “Prairie Earth.” The 32 card design series was entitled “A Moment in Time” that led to several licensing agreements. Freelance artwork and commissions have been an integral part of her life. She currently teaches art classes out of her studio in Shiloh.
Firestone Auto Center
The 1935 grand opening celebration of the new Firestone Auto Center at 232 West Main Street was attended by some 2,300 people. The popularity of the newly opened Hotel Belleville on the Public Square made the location of the new modern auto center a strategic one on the route from St. Louis. The iconic architectural feature of the building uses steel trusses over the roof to support the long cantilevered overhangs on the front and side elevations. It remains the Firestone Auto Center today and at 78 years, is one of the oldest continuously running businesses in Belleville.
Firestone Auto Center
232 W. Main St.
Belleville, IL 62220
Artist Information: Ron Eilering
Having been raised in a family of lifelong learners, early architectural influences included many of the world’s modern artists including works by Charles E. King and Frank Lloyd Wright. And extensive family travels into the American West and South developed a deep appreciation of nature.
Brad was formally educated in art and architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. He and his wife, Cele, continue to travel extensively in America and Europe. As a member of the SWIC Art Faculty, he has lead student Art and Architecture trips to many of the world’s museums in cities throughout the United States and Europe.
As an architect for Eilering Architecture and in practice with his father Ron and sister Deb, he advances the reputation for a legacy of exceptional home and building design within the area.
In Brad’s studio practice, he focuses on drawing-based investigations into the natural order of our existence yielding works in color and form. Finished works are represented as drawings, paintings, and sculptures.
Old Washington Theatre
2013 Plein Air Art Auction: Event Details
The Washington Theatre opened at 228 West Main Street in 1913 as a venue providing both vaudeville acts and movies. Later that the same year, and four years before the opening of the Muny Opera in St. Louis, the owners constructed an air dome behind the theatre to provide patrons with performances under the stars. The theatre eventually became the Illinois Theatre and continued to show movies until 1955. In 2008, Renae Hillesheim Eichholz restored the exterior of the theatre and maintains her medical accounting business, Precision Practice Management, there.
Old Washington Theatre
228 W. Main St.
Belleville, IL 62220
Artist Information: Susan Winter
Susan was born in Southern Illinois, gradated from Washington University with a degree in electrical engineering, and worked for Emerson Electric until the birth of her first child. Then she began to paint and has continued to do so for more than 50 years. She has studied art at Southwestern Illinois College and with several private instructors. She is a member of the Gateway East Artists Guild.
Susan made this statement about art: “Painting is like meditating. I become so absorbed in the painting that I become unaware of time or place. Sometimes when I don’t know how to achieve what I’m after, I get caught up in the minute details and then when I back off and enlarge my perspective, I’m amazed. It feels like some hand has taken my hand and guided it. I find that painting brings back undercurrents of emotion causing me to re-examine my feelings, and I hope that my paintings will trigger emotion in my viewers and help them make a connection in some way to the elements of their world.”
Turner Hall / Old YMCA
The Turnverein (gymnastics) movement originated in the German states in the early 1800’s and arrived in Belleville in 1852. Its objective was to promote a “sound mind in a sound body.” Gymnastics and other physical activities promoted physical fitness while the speech and writing competitions, music, and drama fostered a strong mind.
The Turners sought to “advertise Belleville to the world” through their new hall and built the largest Turner Gymnasium in North America, completing the building at 15 North First Street in 1924. Their architect, Julius Floto, had worked with Frank Lloyd Wright on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan before this project. During the 1950’s and into the 1970’s Belleville Parks and Recreation would use the facility. The YMCA acquired the building in 1959 and used it until its new downtown Y was completed in 2006. Through a series of complex negotiations to ensure the Y would remain downtown, the city of Belleville became the building’s owner. After an attempt to develop the building as an arts and culture center failed, demolition seemed imminent until local businessman Kurt Artinger acquired the building in 2013 for his company which deals in lost and stolen jewelry claims. Renovation of the building for that purpose is going on currently.
Tuner Hall: North Facade
15 N. 1st St.
Belleville, IL 62220
(1st St. at corner of W. A St.)
Artist Information: Gary Karasek
The brother of artist Carolyn Karasek and son of the late well-known artist Edward Karasek, Gary has been surrounded by art his entire life. With a passion for a variety of art including painting, sculpture, and theatrical sets; he was able to integrate his love of art and architecture as he earned both a Bachelor of Art degree in Architecture as well as a Masters Degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois.
The love of art on a large scale allows him to focus on the creative, the imaginative, and the fun of architecture. The award winning architect and artist acknowledges that light and color have played an important part of his work for over 25 years. The recipient of awards both in North America and Europe, Gary’s works include a wide range of painting including nature abstracts and landscapes in plein air. It is his goal that both his art and his design affect people and the built environment.
Gary has recently been involved with several theme park projects that provide an outlet for his artistic talent. Locally, he works in residential and commercial projects that enable him to utilize his imaginative and creative talents. He is also a principal with U-studios Incorporated in Shiloh.
Weyhaupt Brothers Meat Packing Company Sign
Joseph, Prosper and Francis Weyhapupt took over the meat packing business partially owned by their father at 1520 Lebanon Avenue in 1936 and opened it as the Weyhaupt Brothers Meat Packing Plant. They operated it for nearly 60 years, closing it in 1993. Later owners attempted to reactivate the plant but the final venture failed in 2005. The iconic neon sign advertising “Weyhaput Brothers Finer Brand Meat Products” remains on the roof of the plant today.
Weyhaupt Brothers Meat Packing Company Sign
1510 Lebanon Ave.
Belleville, IL 62221
Artist Information: Bill Evans
Bill came to Belleville from SIU Carbondale in 1969 with two diplomas in his back pocket and began a 33-year teaching career in the Art Department at Belleville West High School, then chaired by Harvey Mueller. He taught a variety of classes at West including instruction in art, jewelry design, advanced drawing, graphic design, and painting. He retired from BTHS in 2002 and began a nine-year stint at Southwestern Illinois College teaching classes in drawing, figure drawing, and painting.
Bill commented that being an artist requires one to be versatile and if he hung out a shingle, it would be a long one possibly ending with “knives sharpened and keys made.” Currently Bill uses his skills doing watercolor and oil paintings of his grandchildren and feels very content with that. He is a man truly built for leisure.
Old Bell City Battery Store
When Emil P. Miller & Son moved into the company’s new building, the family already had 30 years of service in the automotive business, selling batteries, repairing cars, and selling auto accessories. Hermann Neff & Son constructed the building for $10,000. In addition to selling batteries, Emil and Ardell Miller had an extensive service station supply business with over 400 customers in southern Illinois, so the enameled brick building included an overhead garage door in the back for a delivery truck and easy storing of inventory. After Emil died, Ardell Miller expanded the battery brand. Local production of the brand ceased but Belle City batteries are still made. In 2011, new owners purchased the business, but Ardell Miller still maintains use of the building today as an office and to display his memorabilia.
Old Bell City Battery Store
1030 Freeburg Ave.
Belleville, IL 62220
Artist Information: Joyce Neutzling
Red Bud, IL, artist Joyce Neutzling has nurtured an interest in art since high school. Leaving Belleville to move to Randolph County with her husband and children allowed her to again take up painting. When her husband enjoyed his hobby of fishing in the local lakes, she joined him and seized the opportunity to bring along her paints and create the scenery and wildlife that surrounded them. Recognizing her renewed love of painting, she took classes with June Kelly of Shiloh, IL, and later Joyce enrolled in art classes at Southwestern Illinois College under the tutelage of Dale Threlkeld, Wayne Shaw and other art faculty members.
Attending workshops in Southern Illinois, she became more involved in plein air painting. Drawing or using any media outdoors provided her with the ability to see more clearly the negative and positive spaces, lights and shadows, and the impact of the given moment. Her drawings consist of nature magnified in a realistic way and historic sites captured in a soft light.
Joyce has been an exhibitor in many street shows including those in Belleville, IL, O’Fallon, IL, Webster Groves, MO; and the Maeystown Spring Art Show. She is a member of the Gateway East Artists Guild, the St. Louis Art Guild and the Color Pencil Society of Chicago, IL.
Garfield Street Historic Saloon (“Garfield’s”)
Adam Gintz was not yet 45 years old when he retired as president of the Western Brewery. In addition to building a new home on North Illinois Street he purchased or built a number of saloons in the area and rented them to the Western Brewery to ensure a comfortable retirement. Gintz had the saloon on Garfield Street built in 1894-95. For all of its history except during Prohibition, and up until 2010, it thrived as a saloon – mostly under the name Frank and Lil’s. In 1973, it was recognized on the list of National Registry of Historic Places as part of the development of the Old Belleville Historic District.
The Belleville Historical Society purchased the building in 2010 for its headquarters and to eventually become a museum dedicated to the neighborhood saloons and brewing industry in Belleville. Anheuser-Busch thought so highly of the architecture of the saloon with its elaborate brick cornice and the rounded top windows that, in 2005, it featured the building in an advertising poster called “Last Delivery of the Day – 1936.”
Garfield Street Historic Saloon
633 E. Garfield St.
Belleville, IL 62220
This location is also the site of the art auction at 1 p.m. A street fair with live music, crafts and more will begin on Garfield Street at 10 a.m.
Artist Information: Michael Anderson
For over 35 years, Michael Anderson has been an artist, illustrator, and designer. His education includes a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with Honors from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, IL in 1973. Anderson is a member of several organizations, including the American Society of Architectural Illustrators, St. Louis Artists Guild (Creative Artisans Section), Missouri Plein Air Painters Association, and the Gateway East Artist Guild. He currently is an illustrator, designer and fine artist at the Michael Anderson Studio located in Belleville.
In January of 2012, Michael completed two new works that were commissioned by the Laclede Gas Company for the new Yaeger Conference Center at the corporate headquarters in St. Louis, MO. He based his paintings on black and white photos retrieved from the company’s archives.
Michael’s paintings, drawings and watercolors are included in many private collections as well as the permanent collections of Southwestern Illinois College Foundation, Laclede Gas and the City of Belleville. His awards include the Kirchner Memorial Award for Transparent Watercolor (Gateway East Artists Guild), and the 2008 Big Splash Juror’s Choice (St. Louis Watercolor Society). Michael is also the author of the blog Sketching St. Louis.
Lincoln Hotel / Original Oddfellows Hall
The Independent Order of Oddfellows constructed their hall at 100 North High Street in 1848. Shortly thereafter they sold it to the Belleville Literary Society. It became the first home of what would become the Belleville Public Library, when the German Library Society of St Clair County moved into the hall from its original location in a farmhouse in Shiloh Valley. For several years it also housed schoolrooms for the Belleville school district. For most of its history, the building has served as the Lincoln Hotel, and is perhaps best remembered as the home of the Lincoln Jug Restaurant for over 70 years. In 1961 dentist Irvin A. Leuning, Jr. bought the building and soon afterwards renovated it. He maintained the form of the exterior but used modern materials and application practices to reface the historic exterior. Today, it serves as an apartment complex and houses the Baja Cali Mexican Restaurant.
Lincoln Hotel / Original Oddfellows Hall
100 N. High St.
Belleville, IL 62220
Due to an out-of-town engagement, the artist will not be painting on site at this location on September 21. The painting will be available at the 1 p.m. art auction at the Garfield Street Historic Saloon.
Artist Information: David Cornell
A 31-year military career helped to expand artist David Cornell’s knowledge and experience of art. In his travels in the U.S. Air Force, he was able to observe artists around the world that broadened his early interest in landscape painting that began with art lessons during his early childhood in Northern California. He studied art throughout college as he worked toward eventually earning a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering in 1963 at Arizona State U. He retired as a Brigadier General and then began a second career in airport design and construction management.
In 2000 he returned to landscape painting. In recent years, he has had the opportunity to attend workshops in plein air painting. These have allowed him to capture sites in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois and Missouri to name just a few.
David enjoys teaching plein air painting workshops and individual classes. Painting with other artists at least once a week provides him with exchanges of ideas and constructive critiques. His personal works consist of approximately 100 original paintings depicting local scenes.
Cornell is a member of the Gateway East Artists Guild, the Highland Arts Council, and the Northern Missouri Arts Council. He is also a founding member of the Missouri Plein Air Painters Association.
Renner Funeral Home / Adam Gintz Mansion
After Adam Gintz retired from the presidency of the Western Brewery (which later became the Stag Brewery), he moved out of his mansion on East E Street and purchased property at 120 North Illinois Street in 1895. There he built a Queen Anne Style home and lived with his family until 1908, when he sold it to Edwin M. Irwin, a physician who was active in politics and served as a U.S. congressman. Gintz then returned to his old mansion on East E Street, which is now part of the St. Paul’s Home complex. The Renner-Geminn-Bergman Funeral Home bought the house from the Irwin Estate in 1934 and, after re-organization, the business is now the George Renner & Sons Funeral Home.
Renner Funeral Home / Adam Gintz Mansion
120 N. Illinois St.
Belleville, IL 62220
Due to an out-of-town engagement, the artist will not be painting on site at this location on September 21. The painting will be available at the 1 p.m. art auction at the Garfield Street Historic Saloon.
Artist Information: M. Shawn Cornell
Shawn Cornell is a 1985 and 1987 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and an Associate of Arts degree in Graphic Design. He has been a practitioner of plein air painting since 1999 and was a founding member of the Missouri Plein Air Painters Association. Shawn is also a member of the Gateway East Artists Guild. Exhibiting frequently in Art on the Square, he has twice been the recipient of the Mayor’s Choice Award (2003, 2009) and also has received the Best in Category award. In addition, he has exhibited his work in multiple art fairs garnering many awards including Best in Show at the 2009 Highland Art in the Park show.
For Shawn, plein air painting is about the interaction of the artist and his surroundings during a brief moment in life. It is the artist exposing himself to the elements and public scrutiny. For him no other mode of painting provides a more direct connection between artist, subject and the public. According to Shawn, “If you see snow in a painting, it means that the artist was standing in the snow. If you see rain in the painting, it means the artist was getting very wet.” This simple and direct interpretation of a scene reflects his philosophy regarding his painting.
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