Paris, Rome, Barcelona, and now Naperville are celebrating love with a lock.
When the owners of Little Luxuries learned that this year’s downtown summer sculptures would be shaped like hearts, they had the perfect idea for their sponsored submission.
“So my wife has a boutique and we travel to Europe every year to try to find unique things that you can’t find in Chicago or in the U.S. and when we were over there we fell in love with the romance of Europe,” said Little Luxuries Co-Owner Chris Finck. “And for over 100 years people have been locking locks to bridges and gates throughout Rome, Barcelona, and Paris, locking in their love and throwing away the key. “
Artist Ken Markiewicz of Crayons Gone Wild painted a scene of Paris on Little Luxuries’ sculpture. But it wasn’t complete without a small fence for passersby to participate in the art too, by locking in their love with a lock of their own.
Currently, there’s at least 35 locks on the fence and if you want to lock in your love, you can do so until mid-September when the sculpture series wraps up for the summer.
The Fincks are looking into a permanent home for their sculpture, so the love locks of Naperville can continue for years to come.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.