Fearless. Trend-setting. Tradition-Bending. Fun! That’s the art colony history of Park Ridge. This spiral bound book is 10 1/4 x 14 1/4 — features 30 powerful poster illustrations by award winning artist, Rex Parker celebrating the vibrant heritage of the Park Ridge art colony and, through his own artworks, the vitality of Park Ridge today.

Art is most often displayed in the world’s glittering big cities, but it doesn’t always start there. The quiet Chicago suburb of Park Ridge, Illinois, was home to a thriving art colony that attracted some of the country’s most remarkable talents. Painting, sculpting, metalwork, musical composition, architecture and even typeface design that attained worldwide recognition was abundant here from the late l890s through the Depression. But in our busy post-WWII society, this treasured local art history went unnoticed by many.

Rex’s bold colorful, book of collectible posters on “The Park Ridge Art Colony” is a celebration of Clara Barck Welles, Kalo, Grant Wood, Alfonso Iannelli, Frederick Goudy, The Village Press and John Alden Carpenter. Included in the book is one of Rex’s own favorite poster series “Legends of the Pickwick Theatre” these posters herald movies, locally raised celebrity actors and other creatives that enriched Park Ridge; a series some have called a modern Art Deco masterpiece. Rex simply calls it doing good works.