• Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series on Kane County’s amazing history. Today’s article is contributed by the Geneva History Museum’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Markie Striegel.

Located at South Third and Campbell Streets, “Welcome Rounds” was the first of three artistic bike racks installed by the Geneva Cultural Arts Commission and created by Weston Lambert, a professor Tulane University. CREDIT: Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Markie Striegel

Geneva is filled with beautiful artwork throughout the city. The sidewalks, lawns and buildings are home to notable pieces of public art, all of which add to Geneva’s personality.

This lion, located outside of Graham’s 318 Coffeehouse, 318 South Third Street, was created by local Geneva artist, Joseph Gagnepain. The recent pandemic has resulted in a small addition to the lion in the form of a cloth mask over his face.

Now you can discover the many sculptures, statues, monuments, and murals tucked in different locations throughout Geneva during a virtual tour led by the Museum’s Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Markie Striegel.

On the tour, you’ll learn the stories behind their creation and the artists who made them.

Artwork featured in the tour includes the 1910 Kane County Courthouse murals, the secret grotto behind the Kane County Government Center, and the Eagle Statues on the Fabyan Estate and at Riverbank Laboratories.

Register today at GenevaHistoryMuseum.org to receive the link for this free virtual 45-minute Zoom program taking place at noon Tuesday, April 13.

If you are unable to attend this virtual event, you will be able to watch a recording of it on the Geneva History Museum’s YouTube page.

The Geneva History Museum remains closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions, but will continue to share these monthly virtual programs.

The Geneva History Museum is a nonprofit organization with a mission to share and preserve Geneva’s evolving story while inspiring and engaging the community.

For more information visit GenevaHistoryMuseum.org or call 630-232-4951.

Read The Kane County History Series!

• 1850-1925 Geneva — When Penmanship Was Mightier Than The Sword
• St. Charles Museum Site — From Serving Gas To Preserving History
• Elgin Puts 3,500 Priceless Photos Online
• Batavia-Inspired Miniatures Thrilled a Nation
• Aurora’s Maud Powell, World Famous Violinist
• Waxing Nostalgic on Geneva’s WGSB, WFXW
• American Doughboys of WWI — in St. Charles, IL
• Experience High-Tech History at April 21 ‘Open Elgin’ Event
• Batavia, IL — ‘Windmill Capital of The World’
• Meet Andy Aurora, Man About Town
• Celebrating The 50th Anniversary of 9-1-1 in Geneva
• Blue Goose And Evergreen Pub — ‘Shop Local’ 90 Years In The Making
• Elgin Is The Apple of Illinois Bicentennial’s Eye
• Nordens Soner And Batavia’s Swedish Society
• Aurora’s Melting Pot ‘Yearning To Breathe Free’
• Candles, Timing Devices, Phonographs And The ‘Life Cup’ — All Things Made in Geneva
• Hotel Baker, The ‘Masterpiece’ of The Fox Valley
• Elgin Celebrates Our Once-Burgeoning Dairy Business
• Reflections of Batavia’s Quarry Beach Pool
• Aurora’s Mabel O’Donnell, Author of “Alice And Jerry’ Books
• As Alice (Davis) Says, ‘Schools Out For Summer!’
• Elgin Watches, ‘The World’s Standard’
• Aurora Silverplate a Symbol of Good Taste
• Women Leaders Played Huge Roles in Geneva
• Nationally Renowned Summer Camp in St. Charles
• The Harrowing Story of William Lynch, Elgin’s Civil War Brigadier General
• Batavia Powered The Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway
• Corsets Doing Big Business in Aurora? Scandalous!
• One Block of Geneva Tells 1,001 Fantastic Stories
• St. Charles’ Evergreen Pub — The ‘Before’ Photos
• 1917-18 — When Elgin Artists Went to War
• Thomas Cleveland — Batavia’s Presidential Connection
• Do Your Wurst — Aurora Meat Markets Are ‘In’ Again
• Geneva Is The Place For Graveyards And Ghosts
• Visit Amelia Anderson At St. Charles’ North Side Cemetery
• Calling All Artists! … For a Cobblestone Reflection in Elgin
• Batavia’s 108-Year-Old Gazebo Still Lights The Way
• The Compelling, Tragic Story of Aurora’s Black WWI Hero Frank Boger
• Geneva History Museum Invites Artists To Celebrate Cultural Heritage
• Elgin’s Anson Clark Soared in The Great War … And Life
• What It Meant To Be a Patrol Boy and Louise White School
• ‘Men’s Night’ Christmas Shopping Was a 1950’s Aurora Phenomenon
• St. Charles Remembers Colson’s Christmas-Day Fire of ’33
• The Art of Elgin’s Cobblestone Reflections
• When Suffrage Met Prohibition in Batavia
• Geneva Presents The Art of The Fox River
• Blansford Astronomical Clock Is Aurora’s Treasure
• St. Charles Returns Family Heirlooms From WWII
• Museum Lands Painting By Elgin Artist Albert Kenney
• Cars Still Fixed at Historic Location in Downtown Batavia
• A Bird’s-Eye View of 19th Century Geneva
• Sheldon Peck: Kane County’s Connection To The Underground Railroad
• Elgin High School Celebrates 150 Years of ‘Education For All’
• Batavia’s Incredible Roller Skating History
• The Fabled History of Jewelry Stores in Geneva
• Astonishing Buried Treasure Discovered in Aurora Outhouse
• Lincoln Elementary School in St. Charles Celebrates 90 Years of Education
• Remembering Elgin High Grad, Renowned Composer Daniel Brewbaker, 1951 – 2017
• Meet Batavia’s Sharron Moran, LPGA Star, ‘Most Beautiful Golfer’ of 1966
• The Many Iterations of Geneva’s National Food Store
• The Burlington Zephyr — A ‘Silver Streak’ Through Aurora
• What IS That Thing in Downtown St. Charles?
• 18 Events, Limited-Edition Poster For Preservation Month in Elgin!
• Julius Amandus Anderson’s WWI Memorial Trapunto Banner
• Geneva’s Swedish Days Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary
• The Historic Drive To Save Aurora’s GAR Hall
• The Story of St. Charles’ Paddlewheel Riverboats
• Meet Elgin’s Legendary Marshal — Andrew Barclay Spurling
• Jackie DeShannon ‘Put A Little Love’ In Batavia
• Aurora’s William S. Hart, Cowboy Movie Star
• St. Charles’ First Settlers, One Lost, Found Again
• Discover The Elgin Stories All Around You
• Batavia’s WWI French Connection
• Amazing Stories Behind Geneva’s Extraordinary Parks
• Roots Aurora Seeks 2019 Nominations For Aurora Cultural Champions
• Newly Renovated Thompson Middle School Retains Memories of St. Charles High
• Elgin’s Bluff City Cemetery Memorializes City’s Past
• Batavia Connection to 1969 Moon Landing
• Geneva Company Made Huge Contribution to Art Deco
• East Vs. West 1914 — Aurora’s Greatest Football Game
• North, Union Cemeteries Are St. Charles’ Hallowed Grounds 
• Elgin Temperance Crusaders Take Hatchet To Beer Fans
• Ever Heard of Clybourneville? (Hint: It’s Now in Batavia)
• Geneva Ghost Stories Rise From Former Hospital Site
• Aurora Tells The Cows To Shut Up
• Baby Face Nelson And 100 Years of St. Charles Boys School ‘Good, Bad And Ugly’
• Behold The Telegraph, Elgin’s First Digital Communication!
• Mary Bailey, Batavia’s Trailblazing Woman Lawyer
• Holiday Traditions, Historic Creche at Geneva History Museum
• Welcome To Thanksgiving Dinner at Aurora’s Tanner House
• St. Charles’ Whiskey Bend Signaled Boom Time For Taverns
• From Elgin Watch Cases To 4.2 Mortar Shells
• Lorraine James’ Art Leaves Lasting Impression on Batavia
• Geneva Remembers The Tornado of 1967
• New Year’s Calling in Aurora
• Newly Digitized Footage Documents Construction of St. Charles Municipal Building
• ‘New Year’s Calling’ in Aurora Was The Online Dating of Late 1800s
• A Woman’s Right To Vote — In Elgin
• How The Household Journal Came To Batavia
• Geneva’s East Side — From Dodson To Dog ‘N’ Suds
• On Leap Year, ‘She-Wolves of Aurora’ Have ‘Gender-Swapping Fun’
• Mary Todd Lincoln, Batavia Resident
• The Women Who Broke Codes at Riverbank Labs in Geneva
• Turn Around in Aurora And You’ll Bump Into a Luxembourger
• Geneva History Museum Offers COVID-19 Journal
• Aurora’s Amazing Family Portrait Exhibit ‘A Brilliant Idea’
• How St. Charles Survived The Spanish Flu in 1918
• Elgin Epidemics — COVID-19 Is Not The First To Bring Suffering, Sorrow
• Geneva Museum Passes Milestone
• Aurora’s African-American Police Officers
• Garner Family Is St. Charles’ Juneteenth Celebration Story
• Notable Black Americans From Elgin, IL
• Black Batavians Played Key Roles in History
• Geneva History Museum Reveals Archive Redesign
• Family Secrets — Historian Finds 1866 ‘I Love … ‘ Message Scratched in Tanner House Window
• Cut Glass Was Booming During Roaring 20s in St. Charles
• Elgin Remembers Devastating Palm Sunday 1920 Tornadoes
• Batavians Find Treasure in 150-Year-Old Privies
• Geneva Hosts Virtual Night at The Museum
• Visit Aurora’s Tanner House — With a Click of The Mouse
• Elgin Cemetery Walk Is Virtual Travel Through Time
• James Prindle Jr.’s Roll Top Desk Returns To Batavia
• 60 Years Ago, Kennedy Campaigned in Geneva
• Aurora’s 1894 Central Station Proud Home of Regional Fire Museum
• Secret Symbolism in Elgin’s Bluff City Cemetery
• Meet The Doctors Who Shaped St. Charles’ History
• Batavia Inventor Paul Hassler And His Arithstyle Adding Machine
• The ‘Background’ on Geneva’s Famous Creche
• Aurora Soldier’s Diary Reveals Gripping Story of War, Love, Pain And Heroism
• St. Charles’ Delnor Hospital — A Thanksgiving Gift in 1940
• Meet Elgin’s Mary Muirhead of The WWI Army Nurse Corps
• Geneva’s Holiday Giving Tradition Continues Despite Pandemic
• Remembering The Days When Aurorans Cut Ice on The Fox River
• Arcada Plans Next Chapter of Its St. Charles Story
• Christmas Memories in Elgin
• A Brief History of The Batavia Historical Society
• Order Your Geneva Home By Mail — Right From the Catalog!
• Aurora’s Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Winter of 1918
• St. Charles’ Response to COVID-19 Sparks Memories of WWII
• Elgin’s Black Soldiers Proudly Served in U.S. Armed Forces
• Amazing Stories of Batavia’s Thriving Black Community Date Back To 1855
• Step Back in Time to See ‘HerStory’ in Geneva
• Aurora Will Never Forget The Great Flood of 1857
• When Cars Came To Elgin, Tragedy Followed
• Batavia’s Female Athletes Fought To Play The Games They Love

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