By Bob Seidenberg
Members of the Evanston Arts Council on Monday recommended three artists to be considered for the creation of a new mural on the southeast facade of the new Ryan Field next year.
The council spent nearly two and a half hours sifting through a number of the 55 applications it received for the job, before reaching consensus on three finalists.
The finalists include:
Trotter Alexander
A Chicago-born artist, Alexander turned to drawing and doodling as the main form of his catharsis, he said on his website. His first product, “No Peace Until Justice” posters — made in 2020 to protest George Floyd’s death — sold out in their first week of release. Alexander later donated 50% of the proceeds to multiple Black-led nonprofit organizations, such as My Block, My Hood, My City.
“Empowered by his experiences of being unseen, Alexander creates works motivated to shift the existing paradigm of artworks & art-consumerism,” one review said. “Making works not only to beautify spaces, but also to have positive real-life influence. His works address topics such as culture, infatuation, self-hate/love, racial identity, and existentialism.”
Monica Rickert-Bolter
A Chicago-based visual artist and journalist of Potawatomi and Black descent, Rickert-Bolter’s work consists of traditional mediums, such as charcoal, pastel, graphic design and digital coloring, to create expressive characters with diverse stories, according to her website. She has multiple installations in the Native Truths permanent exhibition at the Field Museum and is part of the Ancestors Know Who We Are online exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian.
Dwight White II
Describing himself as a “global artist/cultural architect,” White builds visual language “at the intersection of memory, sport and identity,” he wrote on his Facebook page. He holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Northwestern University and played cornerback for the school’s football team from 2012 to 2015. His work includes a mural for the Ryan Fieldhouse players lounge as well as art in the university’s student center and Black House. Since 2015, he’s created 15 large-scale murals and three permanent public installations through work with the City of Chicago, he said in his application.
As the selected finalists, each of the artists will receive a fee of $2,500 from the Arts Council to develop and present a site specific proposal.
Ryan Family to make final call
The winning artist, expected to be notified Jan. 15 next year, will receive an additional $17,500.
The Arts Council’s recommendations will now go to the Ryan Family, who will make the final artist selection. The family was the principal funder of the $800 million new stadium.
This mural project grew out of the community benefits agreement reached between the university and city in 2023, which was attached to the city’s approval of the new stadium’s construction and rezoning to allow a limited number of concerts at the site each year.
As part of that agreement, space was designated on the southeast facade of the stadium for a mural by a local artist honoring Evanston’s identity and community, Juelle Daley, the city’s arts and cultural engagement specialist, pointed out before Monday’s discussion.
The project can “be something that becomes your visual stamp for the partnership between the city and [the university]. It’s something really relevant,” she told the Arts Council.
Daley declined a request for information included in the portfolios the selected artists were required to file as part of the application process, but indicated the council might release more information about them at a later date.
Members had already narrowed the applicant field before the meeting, using a scoring system based on criteria for the project.
The proposal sought artists “with a strong record of artistic excellence and demonstrated capacity to create compelling work for large-scale public presentation.” Artists with Evanston ties were also encouraged to apply.
During their discussion, a number of Arts Council members raised questions about applicants’ experience with projects of a scale similar to the 78.4-foot wide and 15.4-foot tall stadium facade.
The scoring system awarded points based on “quality, originality and distinctiveness of an artist’s voice; demonstrated experience creating work for public architectural, civic, or large-scale environments; meaningful relationships to Evanston, Northwestern or the broader community; evidence of the technical, organizational, collaborative and professional capacity to complete a project of this scale; and relevance to the Ryan Field opportunity.”
“Does the artist appear well-positioned to respond thoughtfully to the scale, visibility, architecture, and public nature of Ryan Field?” the rubric asked.
The project is on a tight timeline, with finalists required to submit their proposals for the stadium site by Dec. 15.