This year’s Art on the Square poster has been revealed:

I can almost not find words for how wildly inappropriate this is. Belleville is celebrating her 200th birthday this year, and Art on the Square had the chance to have a really cool, historic poster. But instead, they commissioned a poster they had to have realized would be covered in cats. Yes, the cats are supposed to represent things in Belleville’s history, but you don’t even see that, because you’re too busy trying to figure out why our beautiful town square fountain is surrounded by cartoony cats.

I mean no disrespect to the artist, Don Nedobeck. I’m sure he is very talented in his field of work. This is not my style of art, however…not even close. But I also know that art is subjective, and some people like cat art. I don’t think, however, that the group of people who do is great enough to warrant commissioning the poster that will forever represent this year’s art fair covered in them.

Even if you overlook my immense dislike of cartoony cat art, there’s still the issue of this poster not fitting with any of the other posters they’ve produced, ever. There have been many different art styles displayed in the posters over the year, some that i have liked less than others, but they all fit together. We have a grouping of three rotating posters from previous Art on the Square festivals, and even though they are all by different artists with different styles, they are still complimentary. And they focus on the people of Belleville, not cats!

We have bought the Art on the Square poster every year since we’ve lived in Belleville, but I will not be buying this one. That makes me sad, from a continuity standpoint, as well as from a “missing out on having a souvenir of both Art on the Square and Belleville’s 200th birthday” standpoint. But there is no way I want these cats gracing the walls of my home. And I really think Art on the Square made a huge mistake choosing this design to be the face of this year’s historic event.