Budding artists use spray bottles to decorate a sheet tied around a tree at Jefferson Memorial Park as part of the celebration of the opening of the Ed Paschke Art Center. The artwork will hang in the center. View Full Caption DNAinfo/Heather Cherone

JEFFERSON PARK — An art festival June 21 will mark the birthday of internationally acclaimed artist Ed Paschke and celebrate the first anniversary of the art center dedicated to his work, organizers said.

The free event set to take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Jefferson Memorial Park, 4822 N. Long Ave., will feature food, music and community art projects inspired by Paschke, the internationally acclaimed pop artist who would have turned 76 on June 22, organizers said.

The art center, funded by the Rabb Family Foundation, is designed to keep the Chicago artist's legacy alive for a new generation of Chicagoans, officials said.

Paschke, who often was called Chicago's most important visual artist, rose to prominence in the late 1960s as part of a group of artists known as the Imagists. The son of Polish immigrants, Paschke was born on the Northwest Side near Central Park and Diversey avenues and raised in the northwest suburbs.

For more information, go to edpaschkeartcenter.org.

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