LeMontsters on Parade 2024

The legend goes that in the early 1800s as early settlers and immigrants fold work in the quarries, tiny LeMontsters hid behind the rocks causing mischief and setting the foundation for the lively Lemont we know today. You’ve probably seen Archie the Lemontster at parades, parties, and festivals.

Expanding off of the LeMontster legend and in celebration of local art, the Village of Lemont and Lemont Downtown collaborate annually with local artists Robert Moriarty and Ryan Hennebry to create LeMontsters on Parade.

There is a bit of LeMontster in all of us – fierce pride for your hometown, an authentic spirit that drives connection, and hidden history tucked into every limestone crack. 

In our second year of LeMonsters on Parade, the exhibit has grown to include more LeMontsters and artists. We connected with each of the artists to learn more about their work. 

Anthropocene Daydream
(or How I Learned to Dance on the ‘Shell-ders’ of Giants)
RobERT Moriarty

This painting is an imaginative celebration of a multigenerational, nature-loving Lemont. The central image is a large, colorful depiction of a skateboarding turtle. The turtle's shell is intricately designed with a multitude of bright colors and patterns. Atop the turtle dances a younger turtle, exuding a playful and whimsical aura.

Surrounding the central turtle are various other artistic elements, including one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish. A slice of pizza is being used as bait. The background depicts various landscapes of Lemont at sunset or early evening.

Captain Blue Collar
Ryan HENNEBRY

This 2024 LeMonster pays homage to Lemont’s blue-collar past, emerging from the limestone he is wearing a rope belt used on the I & M canal in a century past and used today on the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal. The LeMonster wears a life vest & anchor tattoo representing those men on the tugboats & barges. He carries a hammer and railroad spikes tucked in that rope representing the Sante Fe and Heritage Corridor Railroads. His fishing lure is a tribute to my late father, all of our great times fishing & all of the fishing holes in and around Lemont. 

This LeMonster is enjoying life in Downtown Lemont, making music with a deer antler drumstick and turtle shell drum representing the wildlife in the quarries, streams, rivers & Forest Preserves all around us.

Limestone Leslie
Mona Parry (lead artist)
Sue Bruce
Rose Sula
Randy Vick
Charmaine Drafke
Brad Tammaro

As the Lemont Art and Culture Commission we are dedicated to bringing awareness, appreciation, and participation in the arts to the Lemont community. We have facilitated several public art projects on display in the community since our commission was established in 2004. 

When Rob Moriarty and Ryan Hennebry approached us about creating a LeMonster, we wholeheartedly agreed.  After a group discussion, we decided our creation should include recognition of our limestone quarry history, our mosaic planter project, the iconic clock in Budnik Plaza, and recognition of our summer visitors, the cicadas. The process included help from Rob to project our original drawing onto the wooden panel and then painting it over several weeks.

As commissioners, we all are proud to call Lemont our home and value its rich and colorful history, family values, and traditions. We are grateful and pleased to be a part of this public art project.

The Forest Spirit
Joseph Sciacca

The Forest Spirit Lemonster was inspired by the myth that nuclear experimentation was done by Argonne National Laboratory creating a mutated species of white deer that lived in the forest of the lab's site. That theory was of course debunked, and in fact, it was actually a white fallow deer herd that was imported from another country by the previous owner of the land that is now occupied by Argonne.

Nevertheless, I loved the idea of a mutated white deer roaming the forests of Lemont. I envisioned an entity that is the protector and preserver of nature called “The Forest Spirit”. I used that idea as a base for this project and injected it with geographical and personal elements of Lemont. “The Forest Spirit” (TFS for short) is a white deer covered in Lemont limestone, moss, and tree bark. It is essentially infusing itself into its surroundings. I placed TFS in front of an abstracted sunset standing proud inside a patch of tall grass and cattails. I gave it a third eye that allows it to see a being's spiritual aura and judge their true intentions and self. TFS is wrapped in an abstracted creek stream that draws from the memories I have with my brother exploring and walking through the creeks of Lemont when we were kids.

My artistic process for this project began with a sketch. Then, I painted a wash of burnt sienna over the sketch to tone the panel. After that I start mixing colors to build the layers on the piece developing a cohesive color palette and composition. I ended my process with touch-ups, highlights, and shadows thus creating my Lemonster.

Being a LeMontster to me is about being your true self and allowing life to happen. I have been shaped by my experiences of growing up in Lemont and I use those experiences to strive to be a better person every day.

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Join the Parade

Have you met our LeMontsters on Parade? Well, between now and November 5, 2024, upload a photo of you and a LeMontster on display at Village Green, 322 Main Street, Lemont, IL, and you'll be entered to win 1 of 4 - $50.00 Lemont Downtown Gift Cards, available to use at 15+ locations around Lemont Downtown.