The Yellow Brick Road
Gift Shop & Oz Fantasy Museum
109 E. Yellow Brick Road (950 N), Chesterton, IN 46304 (219) 926-7048
The Event Specialists
P.O. Box 131 – Bloomington, IN 47402 - (812) 336-7456 – allene47402@yahoo.com
Hobart High grad to debut artwork at event . . . .
He’s an official Munchkinland Market Days celebrity now and Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop owner Marilyn Zengler says it’s an honor to have Rick Ewigleben back for his fourth year as one of the event’s celebrity guests. He will debut the fifth poster in the limited edition Ewigleben Wizard of Oz series on Friday afternoon, September 14 at the Chesterton shop. Ewigleben will also appear at the festival on the grounds of the Yellow Brick Road on Saturday and Sunday. In 2003, Rick began a series of Oz Tribute posters created in the poster-art style of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Last year he unveiled the fourth poster in the series to cheers and applause. The Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop is the exclusive retailer of the posters.
A 1974 graduate of Hobart High School, Rick is a full-fledged, life-long Wizard of Oz devotee who has gone digital in his desire to re-create the characters he's loved since childhood. He first watched the Wizard of Oz on his family's black and white 13-inch TV. 'I didn't even know the MGM classic was in color until the neighbors invited us over to share the experience of their new TV set. I was seven,' he says, 'and I was enthralled. It was a WOWZER in color, and, when I finally got to see it on the big screen at the 49er in Valpo, I was blown away.”
Even though Rick has become a renowned graphic designer and illustrator and now lives in Chicago (his parents are living in DeMotte), Ewigleben never forgot the characters - the lessons they learned and the lessons they taught - but it also never occurred to him to be anything but a fan until a friend suggested he visit Chesterton to attend Munchkinland Market Days and the Wizard of Oz Festival and witness all the fun.
Once there, he was mesmerized. 'I illustrate greeting cards and children's books, so the fabulous Oz characters fall right into line with my more serious work. Photoshop has made my career,' he admits. Rick maintains a studio in Chicago’s trendy Rogers Park neighborhood. He begins each Oz poster by creating original line drawings and, through a series of digital layers, applies the colors, shadows and highlights which make the characters distinctive. Now Rick has his own way of bringing Toto and Dorothy, the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow to life through his art of color.
Ewigleben will autograph and/or personalize each poster purchased at no additional charge at Munchkinland Market Days. The Yellow Brick Road Gift Shop is located at the Indiana Toll Road and State Route 49, Chesterton. For global positioning, it’s 109 E. CR 950 North, Chesterton. For details The Yellow Brick Road can be reached at (219) 926-7048 or at their website www.yellowbrickroadonline.com.
