Museum History

Sparkerland is the culmination of more than 20 years of creative labor by multidisciplinary installation artist Sam Parker, better known as Sparker.

Read the full museum history here.

Resident Artist at the Tool Library of Lake County (formerly the Mundelein Tool Library) - 2023/2024
First mural painted as a teenager. Grayslake Central High School - 2006/2007
Return to GCHS as guest artist and keynote speaker - 2022
The artist and her greatest masterpiece, on site - 2018
Mixing ink for intaglio printing at The University of Texas at Austin - 2011
Early experiments with construction materials and hand-cut cones. - 2018
Installing work overlooking Interstate 270 in Columbus, Ohio - 2018
Tightening the cords on Flare for Seismique in Houston, Texas - 2020
Drawing from life in Cortona, Italy - 2009
Samantha, a young artist in the making. - Circa 1995/1996
Installing CRASH at Anya Tish in Houston, Texas - 2014
Developing Sparkerland in Mundelein, Illinois - 2026
Installing Equidistant in the Courtyard Marriott Lobby in partnership with NineDotArts, in Austin, Texas - 2015
In the studio, working with cut paper - 2017
Visiting Equidistant at the Courtyard Marriott 3 years later - 2018
Installing work in Kansas City - 2025
Sparkerland, opening night - May 2025
The beginning of building Sparkerland in Mundelein, Illinois - Dec 2024