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Players

There are many people involved with a project like Banners on Parade. It's not only the public who views this community art project, but also, of course, the artists who create the art pieces, the committee members who make it all come together, the judges who actually judge the art pieces, and the sponsors who so graciously give money or in-kind services to help fund this project.

Public

We have not only a wonderful art community in and around Placerville California but a public that relishes viewing wonderful art. For nineteen years, over 550 pieces of community art have been displayed and the feedback we have had from the viewers of these artworks has made it all worth it!

Two of the 2015 Banners hanging on Main Street

Every year for the past twenty years, our Main Street has been decorated with artistic creations and for the last eighteen years, it has been banners. It has become, in our community, an "event" every year when the "banners go up" and the public gets to see the latest creations of some of our local artists.

Artists

Artists create artworks first and foremost because they love art and they love to create new art. We are blessed to live in a beautiful area with mountains, vineyards, trees, flowers, and gorgeous blue skies, all of which are subjects of our wonderful local art community.

Banners hung on the walls during the judging

Every year, artists from previous years (and interested new artists) are sent Call to Artists and-Applications early in February. The artists fill out the applications and submit their designs in late February/early March, spend about two months painting the banners (front and back), and then local art folks judge them. The winners (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and usually 3 Honorable Mentions) are chosen on a day in early June just before the Images of Hope El Dorado Garden Party in the Orchard at Rainbow Orchards, then the banners are hung from the light poles on Placerville's Historic Main Street. This year, 2024, the banners will be displayed, as in past years, on the light poles on Main Street for the summer. The theme for the 2024 Banners on Parade is “Seasonal Splendor.”

Committee Members

Over the many years of this project (our 20th year is 2024), we have had a core group of committee members who are the managing board of the organization. This includes Paige VanSickle, who originated our "Banners on Parade" concept 18 years ago (along with Marianne Kalem), Lisa Crummett, and Bill Robinson, the event's photographer and promoter. In addition, Mary Bist, Wendy Goossen, Cathie Urquhart, and Andrew Vonderschmitt are on the committee.

Lisa & Paige

In any long-running event like this, there are changes and things happen. We have lost three of our great members, Geoff Boyd, Charlene Young and most recently, Marianne Kalem in the last few years. We miss them dearly.

We also have a great group of supporting folks on the committee who step up every year help set up the banners for judging at a local place and help set up for the auction in October of each year when we do that.

A Note About a Few of Our Committee Members

In 2011, the committee lost a valuable member, Geoff Boyd. Geoff was a kind and talented local artist who volunteered his time to support this special community art project in Placerville until he passed away in 2011. Geoff loved this project and was an enthusiastic member of our team. In his honor, an anonymous donor has funded the Geoff Boyd Memorial Artist Award since 2011. Each year, our donor secretly selects a winning banner artist to receive the Geoff Boyd Memorial Artist Award. That winning artist is announced during the banner auction and is awarded $250 in memory of our friend, Geoff Boyd. His love of art and the Banners on Parade project live on through this memorial award, thanks to our anonymous donor.

We lost another valuable member of our Event Committee in 2014, Charlene Young. Charlene was a retired school teacher and local artist. In addition to her committee duties, she contributed her artwork to the exhibits, having painted a wheelbarrow, a wine barrel, and many banners over the years. Charlene lost her battle with cancer and we miss her dearly. She was a kind and quiet helper who worked hard to make sure the project continued each year.

In late summer 2018, we lost one of Banners on Parade’s co-founders, Marianne Kalem. Marianne’s dedication to Banners on Parade through the years was highlighted by the fact that she is the only artist to have painted a banner over the entire span of the first 12 years of Banners on Parade (2007-2018). She was a devoted local teacher and entrepreneur in our area and is be greatly missed by all of us.

In her honor, her family has funded the Marianne Kalem Legacy Award. Each year, Marianne’s family awards $250 to the artist whose banner they like.

Volunteers

We have been lucky to have some great volunteers to help us when we needed it! So many tasks: carrying the banners back and forth to the cars and hanging them during the judging, cleaning the banners before the auction, helping to hang the banners for the auction, and taking them down afterward and so many more. In 2020, during the pandemic, we had to change how we did things and could not have many in-person meetings and work sessions. Here's a big thank you to those who have helped us over the years:

Melissa Cowan of Placerville Flowers on Main for allowing us to use her business as a drop-off point for the banners to and from the artists up through 2022
Cherie Cornelison of Cuppa Coffee & More for allowing us to use her business as a pickup and drop-off point for the banners starting in 2023
Many others have been there to help hang, move, and take down banners during the judging and the auction (during non-pandemic years before 2020)
The many great businesses on Main Street in Placerville have distributed the Banners on Parade brochures, especially Placerville News Company.

Volunteers help to make an organization great, and we've had the greatest. Our thanks to them all!

Judges

Every year, we recruit one or two artists from our area to serve as judges after the banner entries have been created before hanging on the light poles along Main Street in Placerville. We will again choose judges for the 2024 Banners on Parade this year.