The world around us is an interesting place. We can pay as little attention, or as much attention, as we want. There is always something going on of interest. We can take sides, or, we can just watch with interest and think we can be merely a neutral observer. Nonetheless, if the observation includes politics, the participants seek to convince observers that sides must be drawn and battles will ensue. It is only natural for some participants to want to draw in observers. For some of us, politics is continual. For others, it counts only with key elections. To each our own.
The political arena is important, yet, in the long view, is temporal. Likely, participation is the most important, which is a discussion, exchange of ideas, and, hopefully, moving forward. We should not take it seriously, or, at least, personally. We encourage good discussions from the writers who contribute to the discussions in The Voice. Swords drawn should not be the ultimate goal. True, those with strong views often seek to convince random observers to one side because human nature has a tendency to want strength in numbers. We must draw our own conclusions and not seek a majority opinion on which to base our opinions. Be a clear thinker and not a sheer stinker.
This week in The Voice, some news items were kept from joining the parade of news because of more urgent news items and late-breaking news items developed. Such a case was a late development in the jury conviction in the State political bribery scheme involving Commonwealth Edison and John Madigan. The development was page one for our readers to understand.
Nonetheless, one important item which was suddenly projected for next week instead of this week, are the six new murals to be designed and painted in Aurora. The Aurora Public Art will sponsor six new utility box murals this year for painters. The designs painted this year will be comprised from a single comic book. The story on the utility boxes will be the history of Aurora. Experienced artists should submit portfolios of past relevant work in a bid to be selected for the project. Preference will go to artists with experience in creating comic-book work. Artists will use provided comic-book story lines created by lead designer, for the project, Aurora-based, nationally-renowned comic book artist, Gaiter.
Submission deadline is coming up soon, Sunday, May 21 and must be submitted online at bit.ly/utility2023.
Each selected artist will be provided with one of six utility boxes in Downtown Aurora; each completed box will have on display four pages of the comic book. Sizes of available boxes vary. Artists will be paid between $750. and $2,000. to design and paint a utility box. Selected artists will work with Gaiter and Aurora Public Art to ensure consistency across the six utility boxes prior to design work.