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Bloomington artist helps church realize expansion dreams
By Steve Arney
sarney@pantagraph.com

Kay Lynn Lynch works on a mural painting at the Family Life Center in Champaign on a recent Wednesday. The project is a complex collaboration of artists, bringing the church's public space to life with a small-town 1950s atmosphere around a park setting where children can play. (The Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK)
As First Christian Church in Champaign contemplated expansion, its leaders wanted to create community space with the theme of a town square.

Falling into place was construction of a park-like setting, with a real indoor playground. Adjacent to the fenced-in playground are tables and chairs. Ringing it is a walking track -- with red rubber pavement to evoke cobblestones.

The surrounding walls are given over to murals - of pretend facades of town businesses and services.

Collectively, with some suspension of reality, a village park exists under roof, consuming about a fourth of the 40,000-square-foot Family Life Center of this west-side church.

On a typical day, a commercial artist from Bloomington, Kay Lynn Lynch, might be painting on drywall -- finishing these make-believe facades. She and her fellow workers are about 80 percent done.

On a recent Wednesday, she was painting a door for the make-believe Nebuchadnezzar Theater and planning how repeated images of the Old Testament king of Babylon on the facade would reflect the king's narcissism.

Elsewhere in the village, such as the Good Samaritan Hospital, the mural also plants parts of Bible stories into the village's fabric. One business is Mary and Martha's Tea Room, named after the sisters of Lazarus. At City Hall, Peter is exiting, having evaded prosecution by denying his association with Jesus.

For the artist Lynch, the joy in the First Christian Church project is in the playfulness of the subjects and in the inordinate amount of collaboration.

A Christian herself, the artist helped guide the church from the original concept of creating a general town into the idea of incorporating Bible themes into the businesses and public services.

The central people contributing time and ideas to the village were project architect Todd Weger, Christian illustrator Kim Allison, Lincoln commercial artist Jennifer Boeke and Lynch.

"I try to talk -- and listen --to the people who are involved," Lynch said. "I like the back and forth. You come up with the best ideas."

The Family Life Center also includes classrooms for Sunday school and a 10,000-foot space for teen ministry and fellowship.

Plans for the teen area were the first to solidify. Church leaders decided its design would evoke a factory, and they thought metals and dark design elements would be attractive to the youth. That factory concept helped spring them into the town theme for a second area.

There are daily, scheduled activities in the Family Life Center and in the original portion of the church - a gymnasium that doubles as the sanctuary space.

But the middle of the addition -- the playground and make-believe town square -- are open for free, general community use from 8 to 5 Monday through Friday and 8 to 12:15 on Saturday.

In a church with about 1,200 weekly attendance, the pastor knows the regulars. But in the play area, Senior Pastor J.P. Jones comes across picnics, pizza parties and general playtime of strangers.

"When I walk through," he said, "I'm lucky if I can pick out one or two of the families."

That was precisely the goal of the town square and playground: To give the entire community a safe, free place. There is no obligation to participate in the church, said the pastor. Being indoors, it has year-round use.

The murals generate an excitement, Jones added, making it a regional curiosity, not just another playground.

"These gals," said Jones, "have done an incredible job of making it come alive and bringing it into a 3-D experience."

Lynch's company is called Artworx.

Lynch specializes in faux finishes and works in homes and businesses to add classic style to a room. She's finished walls at Biaggi's restaurants, for example.

Murals are a second specialty. With them come public exposure and a lot of interaction.

On some mural projects, Lynch is left to create - "their ideas, my style," as she put it.

Always, she said, she will sketch out a mural in pencil, get it approved by her client and get subsequent approval of a color version before she begins to paint on a wall. There said she will accommodate requests for adjustment regardless of whether she personally agrees with a change.

In commercial art, she said, the client's tastes weigh more heavily than the artist's.

Some clients will have a long list of desired elements; others want the artist to create.

"Some people say, 'Do the whole thing. Tell me when it's done,'" said Lynch. "Other people get really involved. 'I want this butterfly. I want five of these.'"

The Family Life Center eagerly accepted her ideas but also had a lot of basic ideas from which to work, she said.

The mural work can be tedious. For instance, making the brick wall at the pretend police station at First Christian required hand shading of every brick. In ways, though, it is the most satisfying for Lynch.

"When you get it done, you say, 'Ah, yeah. That's why I did the brick. I love that brick."



C.J.'s redesign adds warmth to restaurant



At CJ's Restaurant & Catering, the diners have a view of the Central Illinois Regional Airport runway.

Interesting, but owner C.J. Stolfa thought he needed an interior design element that was warm and inviting. He commissioned commercial artist Kay Lynn Lynch to produce a mural depicting a scene from Italy.

Tables were moved away from the west wall of the restaurant; the customers could eat and watch Lynch and assistant Jennifer Boeke paint.

Some stayed after their meal to watch the work progress. Some asked to be portrayed in the mural. None were - except Stolfa's son, Doug, a manager at the restaurant.

CJ's moved into the old airport terminal in February -- into a space formerly occupied by Arnie's. The mural was completed earlier this month. A second mural, on the opposite wall of the main dining area, is planned.

The completed mural depicts CJ's Ristorante, with outdoor seating, and an adjoining park with a water fountain.

Lauri Sawyer had come to the new CJ's before and after the mural was painted.

"It opens up the whole room to me," she said of the art.

Lunch mate Maxine Robinson added, "You feel more comfortable" with the mural.

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Take a look
Children play on City Hall steps at the Family Life Center. Behind this wall are spaces for Sunday school. (The Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK)
Bloomington artist Kay Lynn Lynch moves the toy store mural at the Family Life Center in Champaign as the church vision is realized in bringing the church space to life with a small-town 1950s atmosphere. (The Pantagraph/LORI ANN COOK)
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Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Missy wrote on Apr 25, 2008 9:34 AM:

" Best wishes for success in your new location. If anyone deserves success it is CJ. For those that don't know CJ's is locally owned and opperated. "
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