Our History

Located in the heart of Forest Park, the Circle Avenue Bridge is a frequently used thoroughfare, drawing residents from the north and south of the village. Those going south regularly take it to access Roosevelt Road or the Park District, while those going north take it to access Madison Street, Forest Park’s charming shopping and dining district. Circle Avenue Bridge is also a popular route for pedestrians to take to the CTA Blue Line.

The bridge was in disrepair for decades. Rusted chain link fences left ugly brown stains on the walls below, leaving both a garish look of abandonment and a cry for rescue.

These sad conditions led to plans for cleaning up the bridge and painting a mural along both sides of the pathway. After receiving both village and state approval, a committee was formed to oversee and manage the project. Thus, the "Cover Our Rust" art project was born.

The Village took charge of the project and reached out for business and public support. The Community responded.

Prominent leaders to the cause were Lin Beribak, Rachell Entler (Village Commissioner), Sally Cody (Village Administrative Assistant), Michelle FitzHenry, Alicia Hammond, Andrea Kuehn, Jessica Luciano, Karen Rozmus, Laura Twinning, Rick Wagner, Scott Watson, and Margie Wilkinson. These volunteers developed marketing materials, determined costs, selected the color palette, developed the application process, promoted the event, purchased and distributed supplies, arranged and detailed the event, and guided the artists.

The Public Works Department power-washed and primed the concrete walls and painted the chain-link fence jet black. Then, 110 ten-foot sections were assigned to artists and support groups, and the bridge was closed on Saturday, May 13, 2017, so the artists could conceive and implement their particular painted designs.

The event was completed in one day, and everyone thought it was a rousing success. WGN TV news covered the project, the weather was ideal, and all involved felt richly rewarded.

In the early planning stages of "Cover Our Rust", the members knew that the village enthusiastically embraced the project. The one missing feature was a local art organization, and

this was soon remedied. 

The Arts Alliance was formed immediately after the "Cover Our Rust" project was completed, with meetings taking place after May 13 to arrange proper legal provisions for a not-for-profit entity. By winter of 2017, by-laws were drafted and adopted, articles of incorporation were filed, and federal and state not-for-profit status paperwork was filed and approved.

The board’s official mission is to promote local artists in all their varying disciplines, and to introduce art into the public domain through events, workshops, and education.

The Arts Alliance Forest Park continues to grow. New members are signing on to help increase our networking power. Our growing membership includes artists, students, seniors, sponsors, partner organizations and business owners. And if you’re not an artist yourself, we also need people who love and care for the arts, who are willing to

help gather support for furthering the arts in Forest Park.

What we do:

Invasion of the Scarecrows? We are a part of that. Stoop Sessions over the summer? That’s us! We are involved in Garage Galleries, Forest Park Art Strolls, “Use Your Voice” writing contest, Tellers’ Nights (storytelling), and Makers’ Markets, just to name a few of our programs and events.

But we want to do more. Our goal is to increase both our membership and the programming we offer. We want to collaborate with artists of all kinds, including writers, painters, spoken word performers, actors, dancers, comedians, sculptors, musicians, potters, singers, and anyone else who makes or creates.

You can help in two ways. First, we are looking for people to join the AAFP which helps keep our organization running. Second, we need makers, creators, supporters and volunteers to show up for meetings and events, to get involved and to bring new ideas to help make Forest Park an artistic hub.