Unveiling of Wendell Minor’s mural at West Aurora High School draws a crowd

Aurora, Ill. -- The secret’s finally out.

During the dedication ceremony at West Aurora High School Saturday, the crimson drapery covering Wendell Minor’s mural dropped -- revealing a design kept from all but a few for two years.

The project has been so under wraps that even Minor himself hadn’t seen the mural until that moment. In response, the renown illustrator breathed “Wow!”

And so that exclamation seemed silently echoed as about 100 people crowded the main entrance to see Minor’s 24 by nine foot mural of Abraham Lincoln in his teens reading a book under a tree. A red hawk flies overhead.

Among those gathered at the ceremony were some of Minor’s former teachers and classmates, his mother Marjorie Minor of Aurora and numerous Board of Education and School District 129 officials.

Now celebrating his 30th year as a freelance book illustrator, Minor, a 1962 graduate of West High and Aurora native, has over 2,000 book jackets to his credit.

The mural project, Minor’s first, was begun through a phone call inquiry made by Anne Becker, technology department chairman at West High.

“He said, ‘Oh, I don’t do that,’” Becker recalled. “And I persisted....And he finally said, ‘OK, OK, OK.‘”

Minor created an acrylic painting in scale for a large reproduction of it to cover the wall opposite the front doors of West High. Installed just last Wednesday night, the printing of the design took longer than was expected, said Jill Bullo, West High principal.

“We thought it could be done by June,” Bullo said. “I hadn’t even seen it. I did peek -- but you don’t get the full effect.”

To obtain the best possible reproduction and colorfastness, the printing of the mural was done by a specialist in Florida, according to Sugar Grove-based designer Bobette Wolf, who helped facilitate the project by working directly with Minor and the various printers involved. Posters were reproduced by an art printer in Nebraska, she said.

“So it was a coordination of a lot of different people,” Wolf said.

To help cover the cost of the mural project, about $20,000, Minor has donated the copyright of the painting to West Aurora High School for its use in fund raising.

Whatever is raised beyond the cost of the mural will go into the Ruth Van Sickle Ford/Wendell Minor Art Scholarship at West High.

“I’m going to do everything in my power so that the recipient will have a little bit of a send-off to an art school,” said Minor during his presentation Saturday.

West High School officials will continue to seek funding for the mural project from individuals and businesses, according to Bullo.

To purchase posters with or without a signature by Minor or to make a donation, call Bullo’s administrative assistant Mary Tracey at (630) 844-4602.

Minor will present “Thirty Years of Book Illustration” at 3 p.m. Sunday (Oct. 15) at the New England Congregational Church, 406 W. Galena Boulevard, Aurora. Admission is free. Autographed Wendell Minor books will be available for sale. For information, call (630) 897-8721.

Wendell Minor will be the guest speaker at the Aurora Public Library’s National Library Week Luncheon at noon April 2, 2001 at Long Island Sound Banquets, 1920 E. New York Street, Aurora. There will be a nominal charge for the luncheon. For information, call (630) 264-4120