Take an afternoon stroll down Oak Park Avenue and experience the 2025 Benches on the Avenue, a celebration of everyone’s Favorite Food Moments. Whether it’s the joy of family dinners, the sweet warmth of syrup, the sizzle of grilled onions at a ballgame, or the comfort of your go-to diner, you’ll find these delicious memories brought to life in vibrant, artistic form. Come satisfy your hunger this year in Tinley Park!
Get Your Kicks at Route 66 Want a Coke? Taste the Magic of the Carnival Easy Bake Oven Summer in a Scoop
Bork Bork Bork! (Cooking with the Swedish Chef) Barnum’s Animal Crackers
Savor the Flavor
Froot Loop Fun! Fresh Baked Fun Munching at the Movies
Artists: Amy Frale and Carla Zidek
Sponsor: CNB Bank & Trust
Takeout Tonight?
This bench depicts a Chinese takeout feast! The bench features chopsticks, soy sauce packets, and fortune cookies and is constructed of wood, canvas, foam, Bondo, metal, and paint. The flowerboxes are made of wood and metal and resemble takeout boxes. The back features a long snake, as 2025 is the Year of the Snake in Chinese culture.
About the Artists: Amy and Carla are long-time Tinley Park residents and friends who both work at Millennium Elementary School. Amy is an art teacher, and Carla is a technology aide. This is their fifth design for the Benches program!
Get Your Kicks at Route 66
Artist: Cody Heiden
Sponsor: Hobby Town of Orland Park
This blast from the past was constructed using plywood, steel, real car parts, LED lights, primer, paint, and signs. The iconic Route 66 and classic drive-in restaurants will come alive once again for people of all ages to experience! Grab a bite to eat, sit down, and enjoy a trip back in time!
About the Artist: Cody was born and raised in the South Suburbs and has always had a passion for the arts. This is his third year participating in the Benches on the Avenue project, and he said he hopes this year’s entry will bring back memories for those who have enjoyed drive-ins in the past.
Artists: Emma Kresal & Dan Kresal
Sponsor: Aero Rubber Company
Want a Coke?
The Kresal Family is filled with Diet Coke fanatics, which prompted the idea for the bench. The artists used 3D to create a wooden cutout of the can and a large restaurant check on the front. The words “Have a Coke” are hand-painted.
About the Artists: Emma has been involved in the Benches on the Avenue program for the past five years, and this year she included her father, Dan. With Emma’s creative ideas and Dan’s craftmanship, they worked to create their favorite food memory together.
Taste the Magic of the Carnival
Artists: Laurie Hottinger and Tracie Macejak Miller
Sponsor: Moraine Valley Community College
Step right up and embrace your senses! As you approach this bench, smell the buttery goodness of popcorn wafting in the air, hear the sizzle of corn dogs frying, and feel the fluff of warm cotton candy melting in your mouth!
About the Artists: Laura and Tracie are artists/designers who have worked in Moraine Valley Community College’s Marketing and Communications Department for many years. Both have extensive experience working in various mediums and using a wide range of techniques to produce works of art in their professional and personal artistic practices.
Artist: Amy Tucker
Sponsor: Marquette Bank
Easy Bake Oven
As a little girl, the artist was excited to get an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas and decided to honor that memory with this bench, which is constructed of plywood, acrylic paint, resin, cloth, and paste/wire for the dessert dishes.
About the Artist: Amy is a mother of two and has been a nurse for the past 18 years. She’s also a pet mom to her dog, Phoenix and kitten, Garfield. She enjoys art and has participated at the Vogt Visual Arts Center for the past four years in an oil painting class.
Summer in a Scoop
Artist: Christine Quemeneur
Sponsor: Whitey’s Dairy Palace
This bench features three large scoops of ice cream, including vanilla with pineapple toppings, chocolate with hot fudge toppings, and strawberry with extra strawberries on top! The artist used wood, spray foam, PVC pipe, and paint to create this very sweet seat.
About the Artist: Chrstine has always loved drawing and painting. For the past 10 years, she has designed T-shirts for a local vacation bible school and painted the life-sized characters and backdrops for their themes each year.
Artists: Amanda Martinez & Jose Martinez
Sponsor: Ted’s Greenhouse
Meet Me at the Grill
“Meet Me at the Grill” is based on the artists’ favorite way they spend time together as a family, which usually consists of grilling food and playing backyard games. The bench was built using plywood, acrylic paint, tile, grout, canopy material, and wood beams.
About the Artists: Amanda and Jose are a father/daughter duo who share a passion for painting. Growing up, Amanda picked up skills while watching her father paint murals and spray-paint clothes for his clients. This is their second year working together to create a bench.
I’m Lovin’ It
Artists: Grissom Middle School Bench Club
Sponsor: CDE Collision Center
This bench pays tribute to America’s favorite fast-food restaurant, McDonald’s, and its famous catch phrase “I’m Lovin’ It!” The bench was constructed of wood, canvas, foam, and paint.
About the Artists: The Grissom Bench Club is led by art teacher and bench artist Laura Garrity and is composed of 11 middle school artists from sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Students collaborate to plan the design and execute all the steps of the bench process, from prepping, sanding, and priming to painting and assemblage. They work collaboratively to get all the tasks done in their creative vision.
Artist: Stewart Lilly
Sponsor: Christopher Burke Engineering
Rise and Shine!
Breakfast … it’s the most important meal of the day! Whether you like pancakes or waffles, there’s always room for eggs and bacon. This bench is made of wood, canvas, plastic bags, and screen. It features a check on the back with a reminder to always tip your servers!
About the Artist: As the son of Jennifer Lilly and the grandson of Nick Schulien, both longtime Benches on the Avenue artists, Stewart has grown up around arts and even earned his degree in the arts. He strives to carry on his family’s legacy of making Benches on the Avenue!
Say Cheese!
Artists: Caroline Lilly, Nick Zavala, & Katie Zavala
Sponsor: Odyssey Country Club
The artists wanted to create a bench that paid tribute to the grilled cheese sandwiches they’d always request when visiting their grandparents’ house. Using materials such as wood, metal, fabric, and foam, these cousins built one of their favorite memories!
About the Artists: This is the second year in a row that cousins Caroline, Nick, and Katie have created a bench. All three are related to Jennifer Lilly (aunt/mom) and Nick Schulien (grandfather), who have been creating benches for more than 20 years. Together, the cousins hope to keep the family tradition going!
Artists: Dana LaCoco & Frank LaCoco
Sponsor: Arsenal Hair Salon
Bork Bork Bork! (Cooking with the Swedish Chef)
This bench depicts the Swedish Chef in the kitchen, ready to cook up some fun! The bench is fabricated from wood as well as real utensils such as wooden spoons, whisks, and pots, and googly eyes for the Muppet veggies.
About the Artists: Dana and Frank have participated in the Benches on the Avenue program for three years and are excited to cook up another bench for 2025. Besides working on their bench, Dana stays busy with crafts, while Frank is an avid pickleballer.
Barnum’s Animal Crackers
Artist: Stewart Lilly
Sponsor: Apple Chevrolet
Since 1902, Barnum’s Animal Crackers have been a big hit in the snack aisle. These crackers are a fun way of representing the circus! The larger-than-life crackers made from wood, string, and rope, and painted with vibrant colors, brings the circus to you!
About the Artist: Stewart grew up around artists and earned a degree in the arts. He strives to carry on his family’s legacy of making Benches on the Avenue!
Artist: Nick Schulien
