Twisted Hippo Brewery Features Little City Artwork

Over the years, Lori Couvé has had her acclaimed artwork featured on everything from T-shirts to postcards to music festival duffle bags. But of all those different ways to enjoy Lori’s artwork, none are as delicious as her most recent masterpiece. Lori’s artwork was selected to be featured on a limited-edition beer at the Twisted Hippo Brewing Beer and Art Festival. The competition featured six artists recommended by We Are Lions – a brand that features art from individuals with disabilities. “A lot of artists working (with a disability) don’t always have a platform or a gallery that is in an everyday setting,” said Shawn Smith, creative director at Twisted Hippo. “It is usually a very specific kind of gallery or kind of show created for them. We wanted to make sure that we highlighted and elevated all artists (at the art show), and let the work speak for itself. Yes, these may be artists with some sort of disability, but that doesn’t matter.” The Chicago-based brewery featured two to four pieces of artwork from each artist during the brewery’s Beer and Art Festival in September. Around 120 people attended and voted on the artwork. “Of those six artists, Lori was far and away the top pick, by almost double if I recall,” Shawn said. “It was all great work, and we were really pleased with all of the artist’s work, but we particularly liked Lori’s work, so we were all happy that she was selected as the crowd favorite.” After winning, Lori was asked to do a version of “The Creation of Adam,” but use the mascots from Twisted Hippo and We Are Lions. “One of the things that amazes me most about Lori is her ability to run with a subject like this,” said Frank Tumino, Center for the Arts administrator at Little City. “I printed out source material for her and after she finished it, I saw that little figure there, she added pushing up a basket of bottles of beers. “One of the things that amazes me most about Lori is her ability to run with a subject like this...”

I asked where she got that from and she showed me just a very small hand in the bottom corner of the source material I gave her and that is how she decided to fill it out because she knew what this was for. It was right on topic. It’s just amazing.” “Lori’s artwork lives on,” Shawn said. “People love the label, they love the art, they love the beer. To be clear, the beer is very delicious, but we sold more cans featuring Lori’s artwork the night of the release than we have sold since we opened, which is a real testament to the beer and the artwork. People really loved it.” Along with designing the beer label, Lori’s work was featured in a solo gallery at Twisted Hippo from November 2019 through January 2020.