A hand-painted mobile mural celebrating America's 250th anniversary is on public display at the northeast corner of Cass Avenue and Plainfield Road in Darien, created in part by two Hinsdale South High School students.
Aria Filbert and Nuha Kassem of Hinsdale South teamed up with Zuzanna Celbulski and Ava Zdancewicz of Downers Grove South High School to paint the portable mural, which the City of Darien announced on its website June 15. The city described the piece as celebrating both Darien and the nation's semiquincentennial.
The mural is not a fixed wall installation. It's a portable structure placed at the busy intersection for public viewing ahead of July 4.
Darien has scheduled multiple events around the anniversary throughout 2026. The student mural joins a broader wave of America 250 observances across the western suburbs, including DuPage County's time capsule ceremony on Sunday, June 8, where Hinsdale Village President Greg Hart contributed a rendering of the planned Burlington Park Pavilion and a signed proclamation.
Statewide, the Illinois Arts Council awarded more than $325,000 to 22 public art projects commemorating the anniversary, though the Darien student mural was not among those grant-funded works. How the student project was organized or funded has not been disclosed.
The mural remains viewable at Cass and Plainfield. No end date for the display has been announced.
Hinsdale week ahead
- Saturday, July 4, 10 a.m. — Hinsdale's 4th of July Parade and "4th for All" Celebration, downtown Hinsdale.
- Saturday, July 4, 9:30 a.m. — Darien Lions 55th Annual 4th of July Parade, Jewel Parking Lot, 7329 S. Cass Ave., Darien.
- Tuesday, July 14, 7–8 p.m. — "The Declaration of Independence through the Centuries" with historian Joyce Haworth, Hinsdale Public Library, 20 E. Maple St. Free.
