By Lynn Binnie
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com

Whitewater resident Caryl Yasko was recently commissioned to restore the bicentennial mural “The Stonecutters” which she painted in the Village of Lemont, Illinois in 1975. Per the village Facebook page, “After week one of the restoration, the colors are starting to POP! Caryl Yasko and team, Harrison Halaska and Ingrid Kallick are working on the mural most weekdays beginning in early afternoon. Rob Moriarty joins them early evenings, and they all work on the mural as long as daylight allows. Stop by and watch them restore this beautiful mural on the Digs on Canal building at 316 Canal Street in Budnik Plaza – don’t be shy – go right on up to the front of the mural and watch them at work. Be sure to leave a note on the paper pad located on the side of the scaffolding. Caryl would LOVE to HEAR for YOU! ”

Yasko is particularly known in Whitewater for the Prairie Tillers mural she painted on the east exterior wall of 119 W. Center Street in 1980. (See last image below.) Per Community Built Organization, “Caryl Yasko has been a leading figure in the American Public Art Movement for more than forty years. She is well published internationally. She was a founding artist in the Chicago Mural Group and taught mural techniques at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and many colleges and universities, mostly in the Midwest.  She developed a concrete fresco technique and a line-drawing system for public participation.  Caryl’s works include building filigree windmills and prairie, 60′ foot poles with airplane beacon, and colorful murals in all situations and locations, often with a cast of thousands in the spirit of public participation.”

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