‘It Makes a Difference’: New mural outside Skokie pilates studio is Village’s 16th

A giant white hydrangea, two pink peonies, a crop of blue cornflowers and a handful of purple liatris. 

A billboard-sized mural of those native wildflowers and others painted onto the facade of a local business is the latest public art piece the Village of Skokie has sponsored.

Louise Jones, a Detroit-based artist who specializes in floral murals, completed the project on the west-facing wall of Engage Pilates, a studio at Church Street and North Crawford Avenue, in July. 

It was made possible after Cindy Snyder, the owner of Engage Pilates, reached out to the village last fall to inquire about getting a mural added to the exterior of her business, and the village’s Public Arts Advisory Committee approved a $21,850 disbursement to fund the project. 

Skokie’s Assistant Village Manager Nick Wyatt said in an email that the committee felt it was a “wonderful location, particularly because it was an area of Skokie where we had not previously commissioned a mural.”

The floral display is the 16th public art mural now in the village.

Jones said she collaborated with the village to arrive at the composition and pursued a design that was like a “cross section of a bouquet,” incorporating native flowers with bright contrasting colors, “dramatic lighting” and lots of leaves. 

The artist added that she enjoys creating public art because it can give communities like Skokie a sense of ownership and aspiring young artists proof that art exists in their own neighborhood.

“I really enjoy working in smaller neighborhoods or towns, like outside of major city centers, because I feel it’s a way to bring fine art to these communities where they don’t have a central place to look at art necessarily; they have to travel to go to a museum or a gallery,” Jones said. 

“Being able to do that, bringing it to people and having it be fully accessible, as in there’s no barrier to entry to appreciate it, all you have to do is drive by it or walk by it, that’s lovely. I feel like it’s a way to really give people something that they can feel proud of in their own neighborhood.”

Snyder said she’s already witnessed that firsthand as individuals in the neighborhood who aren’t even clients of her pilates studio have stopped in to express their appreciation of the mural. 

“That’s the goal right? Make people happy, make people smile, give them something,” she said. “Even if you stand on the corner, you’ll see people in their cars, they’re definitely taking a look at it.”

Snyder said she reached out to the village about a mural after admiring the colorful abstract one that artist Emmy Star Brown painted on the facade of Soul Good Coffee, a nearby Skokie cafe.

Wyatt said Skokie’s Public Art Program is funded through a small fee added to larger building permits, and while some Public Arts Advisory Committee projects are initiated by business owners like Snyder, the village will also identify potential locations for public art. Skokie’s first public mural was installed in 2016, he said.

Once Snyder got in contact with the village, she communicated she was interested in pursuing a floral design. Wyatt said he was familiar with Jones’ “distinctive floral style” and thought her work would be an “excellent fit” for the space and Snyder’s vision.

With the committee’s approval, the village program covered the cost of Jones’ fee, lift rental, paint supplies, an assistant, travel accommodations and other expenses, Wyatt said.

“I feel like we were very lucky. It was a great opportunity for us, especially [because] the timing was really good,” Snyder said of the new artwork coming as Engage Pilates welcomes a 30,000-square-feet addition to make space for more pilates transformers, treatment rooms and a community tea-area.

“Our current space has just been this small space, and it’s kind of in the middle of the strip mall, so now everybody knows that we’re there,” she continued.

“This is a place that people come to take an hour for themselves and so the better we can make the experience even if it’s just a little nice pretty side of the building, you know, it makes a difference I think.”

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