Artwork: Rich Sladek
Artist Rich Sladek is set to feature his work November 29 to December 7 at the 31st annual holiday boutique at the Gillespie Center, 2590 Commerce Blvd., Mound. (Visit gillespiecenter.org for details.) The Orono resident will include greeting cards, posters, stone coasters and a number of miscellaneous items, including Sladek’s favorite—a Minnesota fish house puzzle.
Sladek is often found at Wayzata Art Experience and James J. Hill Days and has designed the cover art for the James J. Hill Days community guide and Wayzata’s summer and winter banners, which are displayed along Lake Street.
The graphic designer is inspired by 1930s travel posters and his childhood exploits, growing up on Benton Avenue in Wayzata and exploring “everywhere and everything in town,” Sladek says. “My friends and I would attend movies at the Wayzata Theater, ice skate at Klapprich Field, eat at Hart’s Cafe, grab a donut at Olson’s Bakery on our way to caddy at the Wayzata Country Club and hang around The Depot—all of which I have now produced illustrations of.”
“Wayzata holds a unique nostalgia for me and a lot of the people that grew up here, so I try to depict how simple life was in a town that has grown so much,” Sladek says. “One illustration led to another, and now my art showcases lakes, water towers, unique landmarks and golf courses from all over Minnesota and beyond.”
Find Sladek’s work at various local retailers and on image-quest.com.
