A Passion for Painting Rivers

Friends of the Chicago River spent several incredible days last week collaborating with artist Ben Miller to paint the Chicago River from the Riveralk plaza in front of our McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum. The week’s work culminated at Art Expo at Navy Pier where at least two paintings other of his paintings of reaches of the river system sold with partial proceeds of the sales – $7,000 – benefiting Friends. Many people viewing Ben’s art at the Expo commented on how much they admire the work of Friends.

 Miller has a unique style painting. Casting paints on to a clear acrylic canvas, he places the paint colors in reverse – some casts so delicately, some very bold – using a fly rod and reel, a process he calls “fly cast painting.” When finished, Miller flips the clear canvas around to reveal a magical expression of the beauty of the river that he painstakingly created – cast, by cast, by cast. Miller is a Montana-based painter best known for his Endangered Rivers series, which he began out of his deep passion for raising the awareness and importance of river preservation.

 This is the third time that Friends and Miller have collaborated. Previously, Miller painted the Main Stem, the North and South Branches, and the Little Calumet River.

 A great deal of news and social media surrounded the artistic event too. Click here to watch one of the news stories. Learn more about Miller’s work here.