Initial protests
On June 1, 2020, protests began in Naperville. This added Naperville to the long list of U.S. cities and towns which hosted protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
The initial protest began peacefully. However, by the end of the night, violence had broken out. NCTV17 broadcasted a livestream showing the majority of the protest. Following the first protest, the Naperville community banded together for a cleanup effort. NCTV17 broadcast another livestream of the cleanup on their Facebook page.
During the cleanup, local artists and activists painted murals and decorated boarded-up windows with paper hearts and positive notes. The notes contained messages such as “Black Lives Matter,” “Love,” “#George Floyd” and “We Stand Together.” Multiple businesses in downtown Naperville welcomed these expressions.
Among these businesses was The Lantern, a tavern in downtown Naperville. A large mural that depicts Naperville’s history already occupies the wall facing Washington Street.
After the protests, a new addition was made to the display on the outer walls of the beloved tavern. One plywood board used to protect a window of the establishment during the unrest is now the canvas of a mural.
How the mural came to be
Teri Feldott, owner of The Lantern, and Terri Stancel, an employee, opened up about how the mural came to be and what it means to the community.
Feldott said that the idea of a mural had “never entered our minds” before or during the protest. She explained when the protests against police brutality happened in Aurora on May 31, they knew protests would come to Naperville soon enough.
An employee and a customer had offered to help board up the windows of the tavern. Initially, Feldott resisted taking this precaution. Feldott “didn’t want to expect anything bad from the protest.” Eventually, they heeded the warning, and boards were put up.
Looking back, they are glad that they did board up. It was “pretty violent on this corner,” said Feldott.
Feldott said Sophia Urso, ’20, approached The Lantern in early June regarding a mural. Feldott said there was “no hesitation whatsoever” about putting up the mural.
Urso began work on the mural on June 7 and finished the piece on June 8. The mural symbolizes and projects the ideas that “Community, unity and … racism has no place here,” said Feldott. “Sophia did this for Naperville, but at The Lantern, we would never tolerate any racism or hatred of any kind.” The Lantern is “a family establishment. Generations flock here … that extends to everybody, not just one type of person,” said Feldott.
Community reactions to the new artistic addition
So far, The Lantern has not received any negativity concerning the mural, only positive comments about its beauty. “It’s hard to tell if it has affected our business, the way things are these days,” said Feldott.
When asked if there is any lingering animosity towards the protests or the proceeding art, Feldott said, “from what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem to be at the forefront in people’s minds.”
Stancel recalled that more artwork, called Naperville Together, was created by local artists who were painting a mural in the parking lot at 139 Water St., near Hotel Indigo.
“We seem to be moving more towards the artwork. And why not? If you’ve got a wall, might as well make it something beautiful,” said Feldott.
Features of Urso’s mural
Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” served as the inspiration for the mural’s background. At the center, “Naperville” is spelled out in large letters with rainbow stripes, which resemble the pride flag. There is a flower sprouting from the final “e” in Naperville, and its petals take the shades of white, tan, beige, brown and black. At the bottom, a quote by Martin Luther King Jr. reads, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.”
Feldott notes that in the top right corner, overlaying the moon in the background, there is a large, pale red “L”, to represent The Lantern and its commitment to the message of unity.
Both Stancel and Feldott said that they were “lucky that we were chosen to have this mural.” Feldott stated that Naper Settlement, a museum that preserves the history of Naperville, is collecting the decorated window boards. Feldott said that Naper Settlement is interested in their mural. She stated that it will soon join the Naper Settlement collection because there is no space to keep it at The Lantern. However, no statement from Naper Settlement has been released about acquiring the mural at this time.
The artist behind the powerful message
“I painted three murals total. The first one was outside of Kilwin’s Chocolate’s, second was outside Aloha Poke and the last one was at The Lantern,” Urso said. “I wanted to use my artwork to promote positive messages of unity and peace. I think this put (the business owners) at ease knowing that I was not out to create any controversial images.”
Her biggest influence was Van Gogh’s famous painting “Starry Night.” Urso recalls that “the image itself was his view from his sanatorium room window.” She made the connection between the protests and the COVID-19 pandemic by saying, “I think some people during quarantine might have been experiencing some of these same feelings of sadness and isolation that I imagine Van Gogh was feeling at that time.”
“The images of people tearing down the hearts really got to me,” Urso said. That was Urso’s call to action. “As soon as I saw people creating beautiful images on the boarded-up store windows, I knew I wanted to be a part of the movement.”
“So many of my professors at North Central College stress inclusion and being accepting of people who look and think differently than me,” Urso said. “I would never want my town to be perceived as one that promotes or accepts racism.”
