Brush With Greatness: CROYA's Work Celebrates Country's Birth

By David A. F. Sweet Those driving west on Illinois past Gorton Center will notice a vibrant new mural to their left. Members of CROYA (Committee Representing Our Young Adults) spent a week this spring painting a flowing, red-white-and-blue 250 between the words America and Illinois.

Rick Day and others from CROYA gather before the finished mural. “A number of people drove by offering a supportive honk, which meant a lot to be able to feel the community support through the project,” said Rick Day, Student Union Program Manager at CROYA. Handprints of some middle-school students who helped the project are featured on the western edge of the mural. The new look replaced the previous mural, also created by CROYA. Entitled U BELONG! and painted in blue against a white backdrop, it celebrated CROYA’s 40^th anniversary and was painted during the pandemic. Day took the existing Lake Forest version of the America 250 look and digitally mocked up an adjustment “to fit the mural space in a bold way,” he explained. “I then used a digital projector to map the design and trace it onto the wall before painting.” Maddie Kiesling, who will be a freshman at Lake Forest High School next month, enjoyed her final middle school community service project. “It was super fun to do,” she noted. “After the mural was stenciled, my friend Caroline (Hanson) and I painted the word AMERICA -- plus I got to put my handprint on the mural. I love that CROYA helps all of us find ways to make a difference where we live.”

A Lake Forest High School student works on a mural during the 1970s. Photo courtesy of the History Center of Lake Forest-Lake Bluff. Day noted that the main challenge involved the size of the wall, which measures about 65 feet wide and 12 feet high. “To scale a design up from a computer screen and keep all the ratios correct was an effort,” said Day, a Lake Forest native who has seen the various mural designs since Lake Forest High School students created the first one in the 1970s. “There was definitely some ‘measure twice, cut once’ methodology involved.”

The half-century of murals have embraced many different themes. A version created in 1999 celebrated Edward Hopper’s painting Nighthawks, which shows a diner at night; the creator was LFHS alumnus Tommy Quinn, who also developed the U BELONG! mural. Another featured tuxedoed dancers and bottles of wine and was entitled Senior Celebration.

The wall features handprints from some of the CROYA workers.

With the nation celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 2026 theme seemed obvious. Noted Day, “Being able to paint something that presents a unifying message of celebration for our country and all of its accomplishments over 250 years is an absolute honor.”