5 seasons. 50+ murals. 3-day finale: Here’s why the CRE8IV mural initiative is ending its run in Rockford
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — After five seasons and more than 50 murals, this weekend marks the finale of an initiative to transform lifeless building walls into vibrant works of public art.
For the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, which puts on the CRE8IV: transformational Art initiative, the three-day music and arts festival starting today marks the completion of its mission to turn the Rockford area into a vibrant outdoor art museum.
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Now, it says it’s time to turn its focus to creating the next enterprise to draw visitors to Rockford and inject a sense of pride for residents.
“We want to be on the forefront of what’s next,” said Kristen Paul, executive vice president of the visitors bureau. “With everything else that is happening in the community, we want to be able to jump in and grow a new tourism product and be part of something new in the city that sets us apart again.”
The CRE8IV program is a demanding exercise for the visitors bureau, requiring coordinating agreements with building owners, selecting artists from hundreds of submissions, and locking in donations and sponsorships to pay for the projects.
The visitors bureau says it’s not out of the mural business completely, but it will no longer commit to the large-scale summer celebrations to organize multiple mural installations. It has done that work since 2019, creating 44 murals so far in Rockford, Roscoe, Loves Park, Rockton and Pecatonica. There will be seven more added this year, as well as five mini murals.
“We’ll have over 50 projects completed, and when we started it was with tourism in mind, wanting to bring visitors to Rockford and wanting to offer people who are already here another experience in Rockford,” Paul said. “I think we have established that, and I think we have helped other organizations establish their mural programs.”
What about upkeep?
What happens to the 51 murals in the future will be entirely up to the building owners. The agreements made with the visitors bureau have no ongoing maintenance responsibility.
That’s by design: The visitors bureau said these works of art were never intended to last forever. Building owners could decide in the future to touch up the artwork or paint over them with something new, “and that’s totally up to them,” said John Groh, president and CEO of the visitors bureau.
“These are not intended to be or meant to be permanent works of public art that for the next 100 years should be maintained and kept up and repainted,” Groh said. “A lot of these walls were in dire shape, and they needed a fresh coat of paint and it happens that we painted them in really bright and vibrant colors with some amazing art.”
New mural locations
1. Jefferson Street bridge west-side abutment: Sponsored by John D. Brubaker Family Foundation
2. 308 E. State St.: Sponsored by Collins Aerospace
3. 1104 Elm St.: Sponsored by Platform Group Healthy Housing Solutions
4. 3502 E. State St.: Sponsored by United Way of Rock River Valley
5. East State and First Street intersection street mural: Sponsored by Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Foundation Board of Directors
6. 2550 S Alpine Road: Sponsored by RACVB Board of Directors
7. 2213 E State Street: Sponsored by Kjellstrom Family Foundation and Xaja Designs
Mini mural locations
- 401 E. State St. – parking lot, three sides of electrical box
- 111 N. First St. – south facing wall on Noah’s Ark
- 330 E. State St. – alley behind SRM Prints
- 324 E. State St. – alley behind Juju Rey’s Art Clubhouse
- 111 W. State St. – utility shed
About | CRE8IV Music & Arts Fest
Where: First and East State streets, downtown Rockford
When: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, May 31; noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 1; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 2
Details and musical lineup: Go HERE
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
