For an Artsy Summer Evening Outing, Try This!

Alma MaterBrennon Hightower

This past weekend, we spent a relaxing evening out on the town and tried something a bit out of the ordinary. Don’t you love unique adventures? We do!

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We took a tour throughout Champaign-Urbana visiting various murals and sculptures that are listed under Public Art on the Visit Champaign website. Once we visited the public art spots on our list, we took a drive on campus and ended with ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery.

Below are a few of the places we visited that you may want to consider. Or, head to the website and create your own combination of stops based on your personal preference.

Alma Mater on the University of Illinois Campus, 1409 Green Street, Urbana

Our first stop was to the Alma Mater on the University of Illinois CU campus. According to Visit Champaign, this art sculpture is “affectionately referred to as ‘Alma’, she stands in front of her throne with open arms welcoming visitors, students, and alumni to the heart of campus”. The artist of this piece is Lorado Zadok Taft.

If you have never heard of him, Lorado Zadok Taft is known for being an American sculptor, writer and educator, which is easy to understand why his sculpture would be located on the campus of the U of I in Champaign-Urbana.

Furthermore, according to Wikipedia, “his 1903 book, The History of American Sculpture, was the first survey of the subject and stood for decades as the standard reference”. In addition to this, he has been credited with helping to advance the status of women as sculptors.

Mr. Eggwards (Humpty Dumpty)Brennon Hightower

Mr. Eggwards (Humpty Dumpty), 106 N. Walnut Street, Downtown Champaign

Our next stop was to get our own photo of Mr. Eggwards or as we know him, Humpty Dumpty. Mr. Eggwards is located outside the Esquire Lounge at 106 N. Walnut Street in Champaign.

As a courtesy, be mindful of where you park, as many of the off-street parking spots are blocked for curbside pickups, etc.

Mr. Eggwards is a dapper bronze sculpture which was installed by the Public Art League. He’s been extremely popular and shows up on social media often. In fact, he has his own Facebook page where people are encouraged to take photos and share them on the page.

Empathy MuralBrennon Hightower

Allston Empathy Mural, 204 First Street, Champaign-Urbana

From there, we headed to First Street, so that we could see the Allston Empathy Mural which is located at 204 First Street in Champaign. According to Visit Champaign, this mural is crowd-funded work from a local artist, Langston Allston. The mural which means to portray “passion and empathy” in the deepest way possible.

These are just a few of the sites that are listed under Public Art and Arts & Sculpture on the Visit Champaign website; there are plenty more throughout the CU area.

Cold Stone CreameryBrennon Hightower

Cold Stone Creamery, 505 E. Green St., Champaign, IL

After visiting those three sites, we headed to one of our favorite places to have ice cream, Cold Stone Creamery. The ice cream chain offers design-your-own creations hand-mixed on a granite slab in front of you, which is so unique.

And, usually there is a special each day of the week which is really nice, especially if you are on a budget. Simply call or follow the Creamery on social media to keep up with the daily specials.

Cold Stone CreameryBrennon Hightower

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for something low-cost to do this summer whether you are solo, in a group or with your family, consider creating your own tour through town by visiting some of the sites on the Visit Champaign site and later stopping for your favorite treat.

Don’t forget to make memories by captures some fun photos to put in a summer scrapbook album or to share on social media.

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