There’s an art project of epic proportions in the works at Lake Barrington Woods, one that sprang from the generosity of a local resident. Lake Barrington Woods Director of Resident Programming Mirka Biegunska shares, “In the beginning of the year I got a phone call from a resident of Lake Barrington wanting to donate snow village figurines. When I went to pick them up I found out they had 10 HUGE containers full of snow village pieces, a total of about 200 pieces! The pieces had been collected over a lifetime but had never been displayed all together.” Although she wasn’t quite sure how to manage the display of the items, Mirka knew that with the creative residents and team members at Lake Barrington Woods, they’d come up with something. And WOW, did they ever!
Mirka took the Lake Barrington Woods bus to pick up all the snow village pieces (all 10 containers!) and brought them back to an excited group of residents and staff. Knowing that buying display tables to house the collection would cost a lot more than they wanted to spend, they came up with a plan to build their own tables using boxes from the kitchen, newspaper, tape, glue and paint. Construction on the tables (which are a total of 24 feet long) began in early September, the project should be complete right after Thanksgiving, and the masterpiece will be ready to display at an upcoming holiday open house event at Lake Barrington Woods in December. Says residents Julie Roels, “It is amazing what we all came up with. It is truly a piece of art. I’m so happy I was able to be a part of this project and can’t wait to see when it’s all done. I just come here sometimes and sit and think ‘what an amazing and beautiful piece of art’!”
Mirka also notes, “A lot of residents were involved in this process, some by collecting newspapers, some with painting and some with putting on final touches. We started this project in the beginning of September and a lot of labor, a lot of glue, tape, newspapers, paint, sore fingers, and stains on clothes made the process even more fun.” Resident Jean Warren chimes in, “I got paint on my shoes but who cares, it was all worth it! It looks amazing already! I can’t wait to show it to my family when it’s all assembled.”
Lake Barrington Woods residents and team members would like to welcome the local community to come and view their beautiful snow village art project. Says Mirka, “We’d like to give back to the community for this wonderful donation, so we are hosting a holiday open house on December 16th where our friends can visit, enjoy holiday cheer, music, cookies, and hot cocoa while they admire the masterpiece of our snow village!” The event at Lake Barrington Woods will be from 1:30 to 3:30pm on December 16th, with the official unveiling of the snow village at 2pm. Join Lake Barrington Woods in celebrating the holidays and be sure to bring your cameras and snap a photo with Santa Claus during your visit! For more information on this event, please call Lake Barrington Woods at 224-633-2318.