Activist Mural at the IMC

The IMC welcomed a mural in the summer of 2024 to brighten the south ramp entry leading to our main level, the universally accessible entrance. This mural honors beloved local activists Jenny Wong Barrett and Dave Monk and begins a dialog about sustaining the impact of our elders and activists. Leveraging their momentum, and the momentum of others before us, we have the opportunity to build the world we want that serves our mutual thriving. More portraits may be added over time.

Additionally, the mural serves as an educational opportunity to learn about plants and critters native to these lands. So far, the mural includes images of plants: Milkweed, Echinacea (Purple Cone Flower), Black Eyed Susans, Rattlesnake Master, Compass Plant, Big Bluestem, Goldenrod, Purple Gentian, and others, as well as Monarch and Swallowtail Butterflies and a Luna Moth. We hope that the mural will serve as a starting point for the community to admire, engage with, and learn about the prairie, native plants, and the environment (scroll down for more info on plants and critters!).

Mural Lead Artist Maya Bauer

Lead artists Maya Bauer proposed the mural in 2023 to honor beloved local activists Jenny Barrett and Dave Monk. Maya was born on the rural prairie in Central Illinois and grew up in Urbana. She writes, “Artistic storytelling offers the opportunity to engage with and build our own shared history. David Monk and Jenny Barrett were remarkable activists who we recently lost, helping to shape our past and our future, whose stories can leverage more activist energy, more change making, and more investment in our communal thriving.”

Learn more about Maya Bauer and her art at www.mayaaeolian.com

Additional mural painting by Artist and Lettering Specialist Adrienne Bauer and interns Fiona Carter and Jenna Harmon. The hiring of high school employee artist interns was supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This mural was made possible by generous community donations.

Featured Activists

Jenny Wong Barrett (1949 - 2021) - Labor Organizer, Painter, Dancer, Computer Programmer

Jenny was born in Chicago shortly after her parents immigrated from China. She excelled academically, eventually graduating with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She met her husband, Jim Barrett, and they had one son Xian (Sean). Jenny earned an MA in Computer Science at the University of Illinois in 1989 and worked as a programmer on the Plato system and for the Department of Psychology. She was a lifelong labor organizer and led the Academic Professionals Association, serving as its chair for many years. After retirement, Jenny dedicated herself to her passions for art and literature, winning awards for her watercolors, dancing regularly with the Urbana Country Dancers, and exploring Chicago's vibrant neighborhoods and cultural events. Jenny's legacy of compassion and activism lives on through her family, friends, and community.

Read her obituary here

Dave Monk (1931 - 2022) - Prairie Artist, Environmental Educator, Advocate for Prairies, Radio Host

David Monk would tell anyone he met about the beauty and importance of our central Illinois prairies. Dave was born and raised in Australia and arrived in central Illinois for graduate school in 1961. He noticed that few people understood prairies and began a lifelong project to change that.

After earning his master’s degree in education, Dave moved his educational work off-campus under the name Educational Resources in Environmental Science (ERES). His teaching integrated arts, prairie tours, and storytelling. He established and taught “Reading the Landscape” at Parkland College and served for several summers as a visiting lecturer at the Chicago Art Institute, where he taught “Artist in the Landscape."

Advocating for inter-agency cooperation, Monk played crucial roles in preserving natural spaces like Busey Woods and developing initiatives like the Kickapoo Rail Trail. In 1987, he founded Heartland Pathways, preserving 33 miles of retired railroad line to conserve prairie habitats.

Dave also hosted "The Prairie Monk" on WEFT, a radio program that covered the environment, arts, and more. Until his final days, Monk tirelessly fought to save the last remnants of original prairie in central Illinois. He demystified the prairie for many of us and his vision lives on through us.

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Featured Plants and Critters:

Source/More info: www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/pur_coneflowerx.htm

Source/More info:http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/compassx.htm

Source/More info: scientific name: https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/monarch
Wingspan/Where it’s from: www.britannica.com/animal/monarch-butterfly
What it eats: www.worldwildlife.org/species/monarch-butterfly

Source/More info: https://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/be_susanx.htm

Source/More info:
Size/Food/Migration Pattern: kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/facts/luna-moth
Where it’s from: www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/luna-moth
Scientific Name: www.gbif.org/species/144101045

Source/Info: www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/Eryngium-yuccifolium.shtml

Source/Info: www.inaturalist.org/taxa/60551-Papilio-glaucus
What It Eats: www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/attracting-butterflies/eastern-tiger-swallowtail/
Migration Pattern: www.gardenia.net/guide/eastern-tiger-swallowtail

Source/Info: www.illinoiswildflowers.info/grasses/plants/bigblue.htm

Images/Info: www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/bt_gentianx.htm
Flower Image: www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/downy-gentian

Source/Info: www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/cm_milkweed.htm

Source/info: www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/cn_goldenrodx.htm

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