Murals in Peoria

Situation

Since 2018, the nonprofit Big Picture Initiative has used art in a BIG way to improve the downtown community of central Illinois. The group made a huge splash two years ago with a towering, 30’ X 50’ Britten-made mural, Abraham Blue, that still adorns the Peoria’s courthouse square. Striving to do even more for the second annual Big Picture Street and Art Festival held in the city’s Warehouse District, they again enlisted Britten’s unique expertise in printing and framing art that’s larger than life.

Solution

To kick off a goal to place 48 colorful, large-scale murals/prints all over downtown, Big Picture co-founder Doug Luenig started with eight mural reproductions to adorn the outside of the Washington Street Gallery (formerly the Van Buskirk Steel Building). The giant, 15-ounce UV-resistant, seamless vinyl prints—each mounted on its own custom made, BannerStretch™ front-lit frame—ranged from 5’ x 10’ to 30’ x 10’ in size.

Impact

Many cities across America have discovered the power of art for helping transform blighted downtown areas into busy and vibrant cultural centers. In the Britten team—one of only handful of printer/manufacturers in America that can handle large-scale, specialty outdoor printing—Luenig found a lasting partner to provide a cost-effective way to drive economic revitalization through education, job creation, higher real estate value, and increased tourism. “Together,” he says, “we’re changing the face of Peoria one mural at a time.”