60 artists. One historic artifact. Six weeks to create.
This March, we challenged dozens of local talents with a singular prompt: Benjamin Franklin’s original daily planner. Yes, THE Benjamin Franklin.
Each artist received the same inspiration and identical 8.5 x 11 canvases. What happened next? Pure creative explosion.
See the results now in our digital gallery or experience them in person May 17-30, 2025 at Union Pizzeria’s window exhibition space in Evanston.
Franklin planned his days. These artists reimagined his legacy.
Original prompt of the Ben Franklin Planner
Kristen Neveu: I’ve always been a morning person; I wake up optimistic and energetic most mornings, and I exercise and journal after my coffee. I also love to see the sunrise, it gives me hope to keep going. I get what Benjamin Franklin was trying to say with his saying “Early to bed and early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise.” As I crafted my painting collage, I decided to use picture of books with “Aristotle” writted on the spine. I realized that Aristotle also believed in early rising as being productive and healthy in his Economics. In the collage, I utilized recycled vintage magazines. There are images of ibeds, furniture, and items used in everyday routines. I also incorporated patterns or bricks and color samples, to help illustrate the structures of every day. On a related note, I tend to organize my days into colors and how that color makes me feel. As a kid, I assigned a color to each day of the week: Mondays – blue, Tuesdays – purple, Wednesdays – peach, Thursdays – green, Fridays – pink, Saturdays – silver, Sunday – yellow
Zuleyka Benitez: Ben Franklin's Diaries are taught all over the world to help others "focus". His image adorns 130 different Amercian stamps. The 1cent Franklin has sold over one billion! I used stamps in this image.
Joyce Elias
Mark DeBernardi: What good shall I do this day? (Lucky Strike)
Ben Blount
Darren Oberto
Leslie Riley
Ellen Galland
Todd Jacobs
Lisa Zschunke
Sherry Smith
Socorro Mucino
Sherri Koenig
Chai Wolfman
Alicja Pulit
Laura Leith
Cie Bond
Lindsey Caplice
Mary Ridley
Kathy Pilat
Ren Picco Freeman
Fran Joy: Stretch - I start the day and end the day with a stretch in more ways than one; mind, body, and soul.
Chris Heisinger
Stacey Foisy
Marjorie Davidson: A delicate sunset - end of day. Contemplation of tasks completed, music and some reading as the sunsets.
Janet Webber
Mardy Sears
Janis Post
Larry Pinto: In contrast to Benjamin Franklin’s time course of single day in his life, this Japanese style woodblock print tells a story that unfolded over billions of years. 500 miles to the NNE of Evanston lies the eastern shore of Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world by area. The granite (reddish brown) was formed 3.5 billion years ago under the earth in a ‘pluton’. The rock’s shape was carved by the last glacier about 20,000 years ago. The basin of Lake Superior (and the other great lakes) was formed by a failed rift (separation) in the continent a billion years ago. The waves of the lake shape the beach’s profile every day, and the trees grow slowly so that even small trees can be very old.
Patrick Perry: There is something about the juxtaposition between aspiring to do good in your day and documenting those efforts hour after hour. It's striking that one must commit to 'do good'. To ' do good ' takes effort, whether because of human nature or all of life's distractions and competing priorities. It is not our natural state. It intrigues me that Mr Franklin felt compelled, not only to make a commitment, but to track and record his efforts. Was it a way of holding himself to account? Was he recording it for posterity as a reporting of his life's efforts?Regardless of his reasons, it is that connection between time and 'doing good' that strikes me. Add to that the concept of what it means to 'do good'. Time is so quantifiable and exact, while 'Good' is broad, ambiguous, and open to individual interpretation. And it is the pursuit of those ideas that inspired my work. Laid on the framework of stained glass, I attempted to explore the balance between what inspires us and what distracts us. Between what we want to do and what we have to do. Between fleeting moments and lasting impact. Between what constrains us and what sets us free.
Lee Oberlander
Terri Michaels
Val McCune
Julie Cowan: Ben Franklin
Kathy Mandell
Robyn Hurtig
Hope Hasan
Michele Gorski
Bill Friedman: Life with T
Anna Marie Crovetti: “What good shall I do this day?” The contributions of Benjamin Franklin are vast and full of wonderment. One such example is a simple but insightful written entry for his daily schedule. Every day his respected plan was thoughtfully recorded as a guide for each waking hour until he finally rested in the evening. This chart, a diary of sorts, arranged time spent as to not waste a single minute. It proposed the morning’s question, “What good shall I do this day?” and the evening’s response, “What good have I done today?”. In pondering these bookended questions, the thought that goodness brought to others daily is a purely golden experience and it came in a flash. Like Mr. Franklin’s lightning in a jar, an idea sparks the imagination. What is better than the gift of present time, at the beginning through the end of the day, for precious captured moments when reading to a child? The spoken word brings the letters on the page to life and a child finds a new world in each story as it unfolds. Dreams, visions, and connections are born within their mind’s eye, which can be recalled as joyful childhood memories and treasured for a lifetime. Indeed, he had something pretty special in this modest exercise that continues to serve to this day and it has proven to be a mindful and impactful resource for managing overwhelming tasks. It offers the opportunity for deep work and meditation, bringing space to rest & recharge, all the while providing meaningful gestures and accomplishments that are to the benefit of many.
Carol Bobrow
Melanie Deal
Barbara Murphy: WTF - Benjamin Franklin
Charlie Friedlander: "Make Ben Franklin Great Again." "MAGA - A Day in the Life."
Mary Seyfarth: Ben Franklin spends a day with Piet Mondrian
Marla Seibold: The organization of time was the inspiration for this piece. I combed through vintage magazines to find images and text that related to the theme then cut shapes and glued them down. I can’t really explain what happened next as I began to draw and paint on top of the collaged pieces–pushing back and pulling forward the space . For this piece I saw a wing-like shape spanning the middle and I painted it red-orange. It reminded me of the Chicago Calder sculpture The Flamingo. Over the next week I returned to the piece, adding and subtracting till I decided that it was finished. I searched out a connection between Calder and Franklin and it turns out that a Calder museum and garden is being built on Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
Andrea DeMers: The cheerful, tidy quality of Franklin’s schedule left me somewhat skeptical. Recent historical research on our beloved polymath suggests a more complicated man with a problematic side; a man of vast wealth and property holdings, including slaves, and an ambitious and competitive self-promoter who often used false information to achieve his goals. And of course, he was a key figure in the creation of the Declaration of Independence, which primarily focused on the rights of white male property owners. With these thoughts in mind, I cut out certain words from the schedule and embedded them in my painting, changing the context of the words and hinting at the darker side of the man.
Jean Cunningham
Linda Summerfield: Due Process
Philomena O-Halloran: My interpretation of Benjamin Franklin‘s daily calendar, led me to the concept of time and nature. From the rising of the sun to the setting and the moon cycles. Humans are of nature yet they also try to control nature and time. I thought of Salvador Dali’s melting clocks, how time can slip by using the hourglass image by kirstenschrader.com and the tree in the four seasons by Howard Lee. Celtic spirals represent a variety of concepts, including the journey of life, the cycle of nature, and the interconnectedness of the spiritual realms. It often symbolizes the cycles of life (birth, death, rebirth), or the elements (earth, water, fire).
Chris Chaudruc: What good have I done today?
Deborah Newmark
Bonnie Katz
Larry Lundy: Waiting for Lightning
Pam Baumgartner: Building character, with a Ben Franklin Stove.
Sharon Hyson: I am bonded to a writing device and a journal or found scrap of paper. Making a list at any time is my tool to fit things in. Morning lists and creating an evening list helps me work on returning to myself; to being the carefree person, full of flower days, dancing music, and iridescent colors. Breaking down goals and making a map list for small and large events helps me to plan to get things done. Short lists for the day, the week, and monthly sometimes make things gloomy but workable.
Marla Seibold: The organization of time was the inspiration for this piece. I combed through vintage magazines to find images and text that related to the theme then cut shapes and glued them down. I can’t really explain what happened next as I began to draw and paint on top of the collaged pieces–pushing back and pulling forward the space . For this piece I saw a wing-like shape spanning the middle and I painted it red-orange. It reminded me of the Chicago Calder sculpture The Flamingo. Over the next week I returned to the piece, adding and subtracting till I decided that it was finished. I searched out a connection between Calder and Franklin and it turns out that a Calder museum and garden is being built on Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
