Big Picture Peoria
"Changing the face of Peoria"
Big Picture Peoria is a non-profit initiative of art makers and art aficionados who are working to make Peoria an arts destination that breaks down the divide of art as academia and art as human expression. Over the course of summer, fall, and winter 2019 I had the pleasure of working with this group of individuals. Being from Peoria myself, it was a great experience to see people working to bring art back to the community. Murals all over Peoria can trace their origins back to Doug and Eileen Leunig, the founders of Big Picture.
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Through my internship I was able to help them promote the street festival they were planning for in October. I attended meetings with them to meet with professionals in the area and had the opportunity to learn how a big event comes together behind the scenes. My job for them was to create design pieces that were sent out to potential sponsors, teachers, and the public. For each audience, we worked to produce pieces that fit our mission in contacting them. This internship was also my first foray into social media work, posting to Instagram and Facebook to engage with the audiences we wanted to reach. From when I started, the Instagram following increased by 400+ and as of now is sitting at 850.
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Before my internship with Doug and Eileen, I was introduced to them during a final in one of my design classes, the work of which I will put before my internship work to be chronological. The group project was essentially what I would end up doing for them in just a few months.
Conceptual website and Facebook updates.
Conceptual Snapchat filters.
Mockups of stickers and banner designs from the group project.
Thank you cards to be sent digitally to donors using pictures taken at the festival.
A-frame designs to mark certain stations at the festival, featuring a picture of myself next to the sign for the "danger zone."
The Little Big Picture student challenge was a festival first last year where high school students would form teams to paint a mural during the morning of the festival.
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This design was emailed out to teachers in Central Illinois to answer basic questions and direct further interest in the competition. It also included email and web links to sign up.
Big Picture posted ads with Peoria Magazine, Peoria Symphony Orchestra, and Peoria Art Guild to raise awareness through traditional print media for the festival. Ads were run in August/September editions and handouts.