Benches on the Avenue brings back idyllic Saturday mornings (2024)

Now in its 21st year, Benches on the Avenue brings a little extra sunshine to downtown Tinley Park.

This year, 25 wooden benches along Oak Park Avenue between 171st and 175th Streets are painted in the theme of “Saturday Morning Cartoons.” They will be on display through Oct. 6.

This award-winning public art project involves a fun theme that appeals to all ages. “Cartoons resonate with everyone,” said Kelly Oswald, marketing program coordinator with the Village of Tinley Park. “I think the artists were inspired by the nostalgia of this theme.”

Oswald said they post a “call to artists” each year, announcing the theme and giving about a three-month timeframe for artists to submit their drawings to the marketing commission. Once the benches are in production, businesses have the opportunity to sponsor them.

“When the benches come out, everyone knows summer is around the corner,” said Oswald. “They add a beautiful splash of color, and I love how they showcase how much talent resides in and around Tinley Park. Residents look forward to the benches going out every year and once they are put in place, Oak Park Avenue comes alive with families and individuals walking around to see them and patronize local businesses."

Nick Schulien, a retired art teacher at Bolingbrook High School, has been painting benches for 20 years and completed about 50. Artistic talent seems to run in the Schulien genes and this year three generations of his family are involved.

Schulien, of Tinley Park, has two benches this year, one featuring Popeye and the other featuring the Pink Panther. His daughter, Jennifer Schulien, also painted a bench and three of his grandchildren, Caroline Lilly, Katie Zavala and Nick Zavala, painted one together.

All four benches were done in Schulien’s driveway, making for a fun family experience of working together and bouncing ideas off one another.

His favorite part of creating benches is “coming up with solutions for problems that you don’t foresee when you do the drawing. There’s a difference in going from two-dimension to three-dimension. That’s the challenging part,” he said. “And when it’s finished, there’s a little bit of a letdown that it’s over.”

Dana LaCoco of Tinley Park painted a bench that is in front of the old locomotive at the Oak Park Avenue Metra Station. Her piece, “Cruisn’ with the Flinstones” was created with Tinley Park’s cruise nights in mind.

This is her second time painting a bench. She works in a team of three with her dad, Frank LaCoco, who does the construction, and friend, Laura Popovics, who helps her paint.

“I grew up in Tinley Park and always enjoyed the bench program. Last year I decided to submit an idea. It was a fun project and I looked forward to doing it again, especially with the cartoon theme,” said LaCoco. “We knew we wanted to do something with a car as a nod to Tinley’s cruise nights. The Flintmobile is an iconic cartoon car, so we decided to base our bench off that.”

LaCoco has a background as a graphic designer and has worked in the advertising industry for many years. She also paints pet portraits as a side gig. “I’m glad that there’s an ongoing arts project in our community,” she said. “It’s so cool to see the range of creativity and ideas.”

With the help of her husband, Oscar Brown Jr., Sheila Brown of Chicago's Beverly neighborhood created a bench with a Gumby theme. Titled “Jammin’ in Tinley Park,” this was a first-time venture for Brown, a nurse who got back into her hobby of painting two years ago after retiring.

“Gumby was my favorite cartoon as a kid,” said Brown. “My husband is awesome at woodwork in his spare time. His skills and my vision and artistry brought the bench to life. I couldn’t have done it without him.”

Brown said she’s enjoyed the positive response to the project. “People seem to love it,” she said. “It is awesome to be part of this. It is a brand new experience and I must admit I stepped out of my comfort zone, but it has been rewarding.”

In the more than 20 years since Benches on the Avenue began, 459 works have been completed. Past themes include "Industry, Invention and Progress," "Once Upon a Time" and "Toyland."