Geneva businesses create Swedish Days chalk art

GENEVA – As part of the 75th Swedish Days festival, the Geneva Chamber of Commerce sponsored a chalk art contest with a $250 prize for the winner.

Sponsored by Klemm Exteriors, adults were to be given a square at Dodson Place. Child entries were to be given a space on State Street. Prizes were to be awarded for the best designs.

The Chamber canceled the event that morning because only two contestants signed up – but that didn’t stop Kristen Cornelio from making a Swedish Days chalk design anyway.

Cornelio owns Kristen Holly LLC, a social media and marketing company.

With the support of Lynne Ball, owner of Liz & Kate Boutique, 407 S. Third St., Geneva, Cornelio created a chalk art piece outside the boutique, according to a news release.

The design features a blue and white heart with a blue and white checkered pattern in the middle. The center of a banner marks the 75th anniversary on one side and Geneva on the other.

Across the top of her design is the Swedish word “Gemenskap,” meaning community. It’s a theme that resonates deeply with her small business mission and childhood memories of attending Swedish Days, according to the release.

Cornelio originally entered the contest hoping to win the $250 prize money to support her seventh Annual Autumn Fest Geneva, scheduled for Oct. 3.

While the contest didn’t happen as planned, her message of love, family and community still made its mark.

The design includes the initials M, C and K near the bottom – Maddie, Candice and Kristen, according to the release.

During the 2023 festival, Cornelio’s two biological sisters found her.

“This life-changing reunion remains one of my most meaningful Swedish Days memories,” Cornelio said in the release.

In May, her business, Kristen Holly LLC, was named One of the Best Business to Business Services in all of Kane County Chronicle Readers’ Choice Awards/Best of the Fox.