Downtown Music Box Project 2024

About the Project

In 2024, I was selected to create a public artwork for Joliet’s Downtown Music Box Project, a collaboration between the Joliet City Center Partnership, the City of Joliet, and the Joliet Arts Commission, partially funded by an Illinois Arts Council grant. The project invited artists to transform downtown utility boxes with artwork inspired by music. Joliet City Center Partnership

My piece, Love Is the Answer, was inspired by the song recorded by England Dan & John Ford Coley. Music has always been connected to my creative process, and I was drawn to the song’s enduring message of connection, compassion, and hope.

For the artwork, I created a pair of stylized female figures surrounded by layered color, pattern, and expressive marks. The imagery reflects themes that continue throughout my work: human connection, resilience, and the idea that beneath our differences there is something shared.

Installed in downtown Joliet, the finished work became part of a larger public-art walk, with each utility box connecting viewers to the music that inspired its artist through a QR code.

Musical inspiration: “Love Is the Answer” | England Dan & John Ford Coley

Partially funded by an Illinois Arts Council Grant