La Moille man wins top honors at Starved Rock Art Show

Long ago, Gerard Spitz of La Moille took a course in fabricating stained glass. He turned his little-honed craft into bragging rights.

Spitz won Best in Show honors Saturday at the Starved Rock Art Show award ceremony and artist reception held Saturday at the Starved Rock State Park Visitor Center. The winning piece was a stained glass representation of a great blue heron.

“I took a class at (Illinois Valley Community College) 30 years ago,” Spitz said. “I saw this contest come up and I thought, ‘I’ll give it a try.’”

Not a bad finish for a first-time contestant.

The third time was the charm for Helena Lopez, 13, of Oak Park. She won Best of Show for her charcoal and colored pencil portrait of a bald eagle. Lopez said she’d entered her drawings twice before – “I’ve been drawing since I was 2” – and finally hit pay dirt on Saturday.

Other notable winners this year included Lopez, who took second-place honors for her red fox in charcoal and colored pencil, and Gavin Stevenson, who finished third in the youth division for his violet flower in acrylic.

In the adult show Pat Seibert earned second-place honors for her walk in the woods in acrylic while Beth Berry came in third for her orange sherbet sunrise in acrylic.

“It was wonderful,” Seibert said of her first win. “This is a hobby. I’ve taken lessons here and there. I do love Starved Rock and I do love to hike.”

Saturday marked the show’s fifth consecutive year. February is one of Starved Rock’s least-visited months (average attendance less than 120,000) so the Starved Rock staff opted to hold an art contest as a fun way to encourage amateur artists to depict the local scenery while also boosting attendance.

“It was a good turnout,” Lisa Sons, natural resources coordinator for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. She further noted it was a tough decision, as the quality of entries was exceptional.

Entry forms for the 2026 show are online at dnr.illinois.gov/parks/park.starvedrock.html, and artists can begin submitting their pieces as early as this December.