Downtown Springfield, Inc. and its volunteer Design Council invite you to witness the unveiling of downtown’s newest murals, plus enjoy a one-night, big-city gallery showing with local art, appetizers and drink in a formerly boring-ole alley.

The public is invited to DSI’s Art Alley II on Thursday, September 20 from 5:30-9 pm in the alley between 4th and 5th street just south of Washington. Admission is $10 online and $15 at the door. Proceeds benefit future public art projects, part of DSI’s program for downtown revitalization. Visit downtownspringfield.org for more details.

This year’s muralists are Jen Santarelli, Jeff Curtis Williams and artists from DEMO Project. Plus guests will enjoy music by DJ Acid Dad Crash Pad and complimentary appetizers by Augie’s Front Burner. Cash bar is available.

Another popular feature of Art Alley will return again this year – the community-painted mural. Guests will once again get the opportunity to pick up a brush themselves! (See picture from last year’s community mural.)

This event is only possible because of our sponsors: Solomon Colors, Crawford Murphy and Tilly, and PPG Paints. This year’s building facades were generously provided by the Nickell and Stern Families. Special thanks go to Springfield Art Association staff Erin Svendsen and Corrin McWhirter, members of the Design Council and champions for community art.

About Our Muralists:

DEMO Project (Brytton Bjorngaard, Shane Harris, Allison Lacher, and Jeff Robinson).  These Springfield-based artists and frequent collaborators are colleagues in the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) Department of Art, Music, and Theater. During its run in a house in Enos Park, DEMO Project gained national acclaim for its contemporary art installations. They are committed to art education through teaching, exhibitions, and community programs. 

Jen Santarelli is an abstract painter who is interested in breaking down common objects like maps and comic book pages into their most basic design elements. Her work has been included in shows at the

Pharmacy Gallery, SAA’s BackDoor Gallery, Radon Lounge, DSI’s Art Alley, and various pop-up art shows around central Illinois.

Jeff Curtis Williams is a rock musician, fine artist, cycling champion.  In addition, these diverse areas of interest have built on each other throughout a 36-year career. Williams is in the band NIL8, a lover of bicycling, and has a true niche of combining his love of cycling and painting, landing his canvases in numerous galleries as well as on the cover of a national magazine.

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Lisa Clemmons Stott

Executive Director

Downtown Springfield, Inc.

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DSI’s Mission is to Increase the Cultural and Economic Vitality of Historic Downtown Springfield