By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
On Wednesday, July 7, the Independent was grateful to be on the guest list of a special preview of Par Excellence Redux, the current exhibition on display at the Elmhurst Art Museum through Sunday, Sept. 26.
Executive Director John McKinnon led members of the media and special VIP visitors through the exhibit, which the museum has affectionately called “The Front 9.” (At a much later date, there are plans for “The Back 9” in and around the McCormick House.)
The “holes” and their various challenging backdrops were created in part by members of the EAM Teen Council – in fact, much of the building was done prior to the pandemic. Like most things in the community, the project had to be put on hold while the world was shut down with COVID-19. A visit to the museum will show patrons that it was well worth the wait.
Project a redux of 1988 event
Of course, the word “Redux” indicates that the exhibition has been done before and that is indeed the story with this particular exhibit. The original Par Excellence took place in 1988 at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, where a group of artists organized an actual 18-hole miniature golf course/ art installation.
The original display, spearheaded by artist Mike O’Brien, sold out every day and had lines down the block of people anxious to get inside. Par Excellence did a brief tour through galleries and locations in southern Illinois until it found a permanent home at a place called ArtGolf at 1800 No. Clybourn, which is now the Good Island Brewhouse. While it was open from 1989 through 1993, ArtGolf reportedly drew more than 50,000 players annually.
About the exhibit
In a collision of recreation and art, the Elmhurst Art Museum commissioned the two-part miniature golf course of playable works of art by local and national artists. A public call for proposals for area artists, designers, and architects attracted diverse artists who designed holes of varying difficulty, including the museum’s Teen Art Council.
The custom-built playable miniature golf course will be split into two exhibits: The Front 9, open now, and The Back 9 coming in the fall. Designed to use the museum’s galleries with COVID protocols, the two 9-hole courses promise an unusual twist on a familiar pastime. From social justice to the occult, the course includes a surprisingly varied collection of themes and forms, including a fortune-telling hole and one that challenges players with an optical illusion. There is a place to have your photo taken in golf gear and Pints, the restaurant and bar located just two blocks from the museum at 112 So. York St. in downtown Elmhurst, serves as “The 19th Hole.”
The Front 9 artists include Julie Cowan, Benjamin Good, Neil Good and John Serafin; Current Projects; Andrea Jablonski and Stolatis Fab LLC; Annalee Koehn; Latent Design; Jesse Meredith; Gautam Rao; Robin Schwartzman and Tom Loftus (a/k/a A Couple of Putts); and the Elmhurst Art Museum’s Teen Art Council.
The presenting sponsor is Explore Elmhurst. Other sponsors include American Gardens, Anonymous, Bartlett Tree Experts, Brewpoint Coffee, Community Bank of Elmhurst, W.S. Darley & Co, DIT Workshops, Dugan & Lopatka, Elmhurst Artists’ Guild, Elmhurst Park District, Elmhurst University, Howard & Howard, Lakeside Bank, Kilwins, Maxine, Pints, Quality Home Service, Reconciled Solutions, Schwartz Injury Law, Superior Ambulance Service, TCF Bank, Wangler and Company, and the Museum’s Development and Programming Committees.
The exhibition is available for private party rentals as well. The Elmhurst Art Museum is located at 150 Cottage Hill in Elmhurst’s Wilder Park. Hours are 12-5 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. For more information, call 630-834-0202 or visit elmhurstartmuseum.org.
