The Pontiac Walldog Committee, which has helped beautify downtown Pontiac, Ill., with a series of murals and related festivals, now wants to open a Walldog Mural and Sign Art Museum in Pontiac, according to news release from the city’s tourism department.
The primary purpose of the museum is to pay homage to the men and women who, through the ages, have dedicated themselves and their talents to the creation of large, outdoor advertising murals. The secondary focus of the new institution will be to preserve and honor the work of the modern-day outdoor mural painters, the Walldogs.
The Walldogs, a loosely knit group of muralists and sign painters from across the world, gather each summer to continue the tradition of outdoor signage by painting murals in one specific town. Last year, Pontiac was the host city for the Walldogs and benefited from the creation of 18 new murals painted by these artists in just four days. The name “Walldog” was an appellation taken by artists who painted outdoor advertising signs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Part of the mission of the modern Walldogs is to preserve the techniques, artistic goals, and the history of those earlier advertising mural painters.
One of the museum’s four elements is to record and display images of the outdoor signage associated with the development of Route 66. So that should definitely be of interest to roadies.
The Walldogs want to have the museum ready in downtown by the summer tourist season. According to a report in The Community News in Pontiac, tax-increment financing funds will be used to get the museum going.
— An art exhibition, “Route 66 Meets Highway 41: Roadside Impressions by Chuck Middlekauff,” will begin Feb. 18 at Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale, Ariz. Middlekauff’s paintings, which were inspired by trips on Route 66 and U.S. 41, also were recently displayed at a gallery in Georgia. The 28 remaining paintings will be available for sale. Much of Middlekauff’s Route 66 work can be seen here.
— Here’s a noteworthy letter to the editor by John Fritsche in the Journal-News of Hillsboro, Ill. He explains the benefits of building a Route 66 bicycle trail on an abandoned stretch of Mother Road in Macoupin and Montgomery counties. He gets no argument from me.
— A recent issue of AAA Living magazine had an article about the Illinois Pie Trail on Route 66. It mentioned pie palaces such as Lou Mitchell’s in Chicago, Dell Rhea’s Chicken Basket in Willowbrook, Old Log Cabin in Pontiac, Palms Grill Cafe in Atlanta, and Ariston Cafe in Litchfield.
— Here’s another edition of Claudia Heller’s ongoing series in the Pasadena Star-News about Route 66 in the Mojave Desert. This story concentrates on the near-ghost towns of Chambless, Danby and Amboy.