Screw City Steel artists were chosen from a pool of regional professionals to install murals on four industrial steel doors, in Davis Park; Artists were asked to submit a design in alignment with the 2022 theme, YOU BELONG HERE.
The City of Rockford enthusiastically supports the Arts Council’s efforts to ensure art is accessible in every neighborhood. During this transitional and exciting time at Davis Park, Screw City Steel will ensure Rockfordians, and visitors, feel welcome.
-Kyle Saunders, Director of Public Works, City of Rockford
Rockford’s industrial past has been the source of regional prosperity, community pride, and entrepreneurial spirit for decades. Rockford Screw Products, founded in 1929, caught the post-WWII winds of growth, creating 2,500 jobs and the industrial capacity to lead the nation in aircraft bolt fabrication while producing over 6,000 different fasteners. Its 1943 move to Harrison Ave was a huge step on the pathway to over 30 plant expansions in which it muscled its way to become one of the five largest fastener manufacturers in America. The industrial doors that serve as the canvas for the Davis Park Screw City Steel event stood as silent witnesses to Rockford Product’s growth and promise, and now are open to the community to accept as their outer skin the annually renewing visions of our shared future. Sunil Puri and First Midwest Group are proud that the donation of these doors will allow them to serve as gateways between what has been and the promise of what is to come. They are in wonderful hands with the Rockford Area Arts Council.
-Mark Robinson, COO-First Midwest Group