Art work will greet West Main Street walkers
Press release:
CAMPAIGN FOR WALKABLE WEST BLUFF USING ART TO REVITALIZE MAIN STREET
With the help of students from St. Mark School, Whittier Primary School and Bradley University, the Campaign recently completed and hung another display on Main Street. The newest display at 711 W. Main Street promotes the Campaign itself, the need for volunteers and the goal of reviving Main Street. “If we revive it, they will come” is the primary message with colorful walking people hand-decorated by the students and hand prints of those wanting to help.
Dan Schmidt, the building co-owner along with his father Ed Schmidt, have said that “Anything we can do to help the West Bluff and make it safer to walk on Main Street is something we support”. They both believe that the return of on-street parking would encourage businesses to return to Main Street. The Campaign is advocating for similar changes on Main Street between University and North. The addition of on-street parking, additional marked crosswalks, pedestrian signage, as well as promotion of alternate routes to downtown are some of the specific goals of the CWWB.
Local businesses have donated their windows along the street to the “Main”-ly Art Window Display Project sponsored by the Campaign. This is the third project on display in the past year. The most recent addition on the Street was the Peoria Art Guild Fine Art Fair Community Mural hung in early September at 715 W. Main Street.
The display project is an effort to engage business owners and the community in the redevelopment of Main Street. Using art to combat the negative impact of vacant storefronts and encourage people to come to Main Street are both important components of the project. The displays are similar to adding a fresh coat of paint. These buildings that seem to have faded into the background, now pop with color and vibrancy. Greg Tomlins, Campaign volunteer, says that “The community and potential businesses need to “see” the possibilities along Main Street and we believe the display project can help us accomplish that.” Future plans for the project could include temporary exhibits in vacant storefronts, similar to the “pop-up” art galleries in larger cities and three dimensional window displays depicting the kinds of businesses that could help revive Main Street.
The Campaign is looking for local artists or students/art teachers interested in displaying work or creating original pieces for display in storefront windows. For more information about the “Main”-ly Art Window Display project, email info@walkablewestbluff.org.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
This is a great grassroots group. We are fortunate to have them working so hard for us.