Sally Ruark’s sculpture of George Washington and his horse installed at Geneva City Hall

GENEVA – A sculpture of George Washington and his horse, Nelson, was installed on the southwest lawn of Geneva City Hall, donated to the city of Geneva by the family of the late artist and 50-plus-year Geneva resident Sally Ruark, who died in 2017 at age 85.

The sculpture was dedicated in a ceremony July 22.

Ruark created the city’s logo and created logos for the Geneva Chamber of Commerce.

Former chamber president Jean Gaines said she began working with Ruark in 1985.

Ruark designed the long banners hung from light poles to promote festivals such as Swedish Days, Festival of the Vine and Christmas Walk, Gaines said.

“We were certainly one of the first in the western suburbs to use the banners,” Gaines said. “What I loved most about her banners is that they were legible, pretty and caught your eye.”

As part of Geneva’s sesquicentennial, Ruark created “Sesqui,” a sculptural interpretation of the city’s Burr Oak logo done in corten steel, which was installed on Island Park.

Corten, also known as weathered steel for use outside, was designed to eliminate the need for painting, as it would develop a rusted appearance in a few months, according to the website, Corten.com.

The design was of three trees – one for each 50 years – and an acorn representing the growth, Gaines said.

“She gifted that to the Chamber of Commerce and they still use it today as the logo,” Gaines said. “The best thing about her was that she was wonderful to work with – so creative – and a real benefit for us to have someone so talented to step in with those designs.”

According to information from the family, Ruark trained as an industrial designer at the University of Michigan, then worked at the design firm of George Walker Associates – first in her hometown of Detroit, transferring later to their Chicago office, where she was made a partner before she was 30.

She and her husband, Gene Ruark, moved their family to Geneva in 1964, where she opened her own small design company and worked with local businesses and institutions on their art needs.

“Her sculpture of ‘George Washington and his Horse Nelson’ was a prelude to ‘Sesqui’ and was created utilizing some of the same steel work techniques and patination,” according to the family’s information. “Sally was a life-long student of art and history, constantly in search of the places where form met story. Weathervanes, from their Greek and Viking origins, were a special interest. "

Her son, John Ruark of Chicago, attended the dedication.

“I was very pleased to see it,” John Ruark said. “My mother loved Geneva and she would have been very proud that her sculpture is there in front of City Hall.”