City briefs

City supports Main Street Lincoln summer events,
artwork and wine tasting      

[JULY 20, 2004]  Artists coming from all parts of the country will be hitting town tomorrow. Their task: to paint the town memorabilia beautiful. They will paint the exposed backs of several downtown buildings in classic sign motifs. David Lanterman, Main Street Lincoln president, updated the Lincoln City Council on this and one other developing summer event, The Art of Wine.

Lanterman said that 60 to 80 painters from an artists association, the Letterheads, are expected to arrive on Wednesday and begin painting. The association holds the annual event in order for artists to have opportunity to showcase their work. The artists volunteer their time. The work they do during will be used in their portfolios. Lincoln has the great fortune of being chosen as their canvas this year. When the project is completed, the city will have anywhere from $30,000 to $40,000 in artwork done almost for free, he said.

The community has pulled together, Lanterman said. There are a lot of contractors offering services; the building owners have been fixing their buildings so the surfaces are prepped. There will be many improvements downtown.

Lincoln College is supplying dorm rooms at a nominal fee of $10 per night. As a gesture of appreciation Mayor Beth Davis, Police Chief Rich Montcalm and Fire Chief Bucky Washam collectively gave $600 from their public relations funds toward breakfast for the artists.  

Ten different signs are planned. A Coca-Cola sign is going on the old bottling company building. On the back of the old Lauer building, which is owned by Dale Bassi, a new Lauer Hardware sign will go up. The old Lincoln City Services will be put on the side of McEntire's.

Main Street will develop a brochure explaining the town and the sign histories. The brochure will be used by tourists and will give people something to do when walking around downtown, Lanterman said.

The artists' work begins on Wednesday and is to be completed by Saturday evening. A closing cookout downtown Saturday evening for the artists will allow admirers of the new works to meet the artists and express appreciation. No time was set for the cookout yet, but it will probably be around the Blue Dog.

Plans for Main Street Lincoln's premier summer event, The Art of Wine, well under way

Plans are well under way for the second annual “The Art of Wine.” Again the event will coincide with the annual Art Festival downtown during the Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival, Aug. 27-29.

Last year's patrons have been inquiring if the any of the same wineries will be returning, Lanterman said. The answer is yes, nine out of 10 have made a commitment to come back. The process and costs will be the same as last year, when those entering the wine tent paid a fee, received a commemorative glass and tickets, and then chose what wines they wished to sample. More tickets could be purchased for additional sampling.

One more fun activity is under consideration during the tasting -- a grape stomp. Teams of three would register to see how much juice they could produce by stomping for two or three minutes. Start measuring your friends; big feet might be an advantage to this.

A costume competition is also being considered to add to the fun.

In the evening there will be entertainment open for the public. It will probably be the Illinois Brass Works, who provide a blend of jazz music, Lanterman said.

Like last year, the fabulous fiberglass dog art will be auctioned off in the evening, with proceeds going to Main Street Lincoln.

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