At 3 p.m. Saturday on Sesquicentennial Park’s pedestrian path, West Chicago’s Cultural Arts Commission officially will dedicate "Signa Rotae," Latin for "Wheel Signs" and the title of a mosaic mural by local artist Buddy Plumlee.
The commission invites the public to meet the artist, see the mural sculpture’s unveiling and talk about the city’s future plans for public art. Light refreshments will be served. The park is at 475 Main St.
Plumlee, a 12-year Chicago resident and a commission member, created the piece on a cement platform with a stained-glass mosaic base, adding to the city’s vision of bringing public art directly to the community. The expanding collection highlights West Chicago’s industrial past and railroad history.
The artist incorporated train-related symbols into his work, along with an actual old train wheel from the West Chicago City Museum. Regarding the title, Plumlee said “I’ve always liked using Latin or Greek in titles, the genus and species of an art piece.”
The commission volunteer received formal art history and painting training in Florence, Italy, and earned a master's in fine arts from the University of Iowa in painting. Having worked with the medium for 14 years, Plumlee creates mostly privately commissioned work for residential use.
“I do enjoy the process of the mosaic medium … the results are always stunning,” Plumlee said. “A mosaic piece, especially of a larger dimension, takes on a life of its own and can be very engaging visually. It is a medium well-suited for public art.”
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