Elgin's new Pursuit of Happiness sculpture: where it is and who designed it
Where to find Elgin's new Pursuit of Happiness sculpture on the Fox River, and the 12-year-old who designed it for America's 250th anniversary.
If you've driven along the Fox River through downtown Elgin this month, you may have seen something new on the corner, with a monarch butterfly where there wasn't one before. It's called "Pursuit of Happiness." The permanent public sculpture stands at South Riverside Drive and Prairie Street and was made for America's 250th anniversary. A 12-year-old named Nathan Adeosun designed it. The city unveiled it on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at a free public event.
The short answer
- What: "Pursuit of Happiness," a permanent public sculpture marking the 250th anniversary of the United States.
- Where: The corner of South Riverside Drive and Prairie Street in downtown Elgin, along the river (Kane County Reporter).
- Who designed it: Nathan Adeosun, who was 12 when he made the design.
- When: It was unveiled Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026. The event was free and open to the public (Kane County Reporter; Elgin News-Courier via NewsBeep).
Downtown Elgin already has plenty of public art. This piece is different because it started as a kid's idea and ended up as a permanent sculpture on a main riverfront street.
Who Nathan Adeosun is and how he won
It started with a contest. Side Street Studio Arts, the Elgin arts nonprofit, asked local young people to submit original artwork about the future of America, and a panel chose Adeosun's design. Both the Kane County Reporter and the Elgin News-Courier report this.
Most of what's known about Adeosun comes from one story, by freelance reporter Mike Danahey in the Elgin News-Courier. According to that story, Adeosun lives in Hoffman Estates and is a seventh grader at River Valley Christian School in Elgin. Last school year he attended Elgin Math and Science Academy.
The News-Courier reports that he entered a cardboard prototype along with an essay, and that a city committee picked his entry unanimously. Freddrick Wimms, Elgin's Artistic Project Manager, oversaw the work. He didn't hedge about the choice: "It by far was the best," he told the paper.
Adeosun explained his idea simply: "This is what I envision for the future of America: a place where peace and happiness reign supreme."
City Council member Tish Powell described what the project means for a young artist: "We are showing a young artist that his vision matters."
What the sculpture shows
The News-Courier describes the piece as a single hand made of bronze, silver and steel, with a monarch butterfly hovering above it. Several small scenes are part of the design:
- A mother and child. Adeosun told the paper this stands for a reborn country.
- The Statue of Liberty releasing a dove. Freedom, in his words.
- A guitarist and a dancer. This is the pursuit of happiness that gives the piece its name.
- The monarch butterfly. Its steel wings were made in Rockford.
These are big ideas, but you don't need to know the symbols to enjoy it. A musician and a dancer next to a mother and child and Lady Liberty is easy to read from the sidewalk. The monarch fits the season, too: these are the weeks when real monarchs are passing through northern Illinois on their way south.
How it got built
Turning a cardboard model into bronze and steel took a lot of help. Over several months, Adeosun worked with local artists and fabricators to turn his drawing into the finished piece (Kane County Reporter; News-Courier).
The News-Courier names several of the people involved:
- Ken Simonsen and others did the foam sculpting.
- Staff at Acme Design contributed.
- Andres Rivera Jr. made the small figures with detailed 3D printing.
- Three welders were paid a small stipend.
The paper counts at least 17 adults who worked on the project, all helping carry out one seventh grader's idea.
There's also state money involved in the 250th-anniversary art push. The Illinois Arts Council gave $15,000 each to 22 organizations around the state, including one in Elgin, for public artworks marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence. The News-Courier doesn't say whether that grant paid for this sculpture, and the total cost hasn't been reported.
Seeing it, and what else is on downtown this month
To see it, head to South Riverside Drive at Prairie Street, right along the river downtown. It's outdoors and permanent, so you can stop by any time, and a fall afternoon walk by the river is a good excuse.
If you're making a day of it, here's what else is coming up nearby, according to the Kane County Reporter:
- **Nightmare on Chicago Street, Oct. 16–17.** Downtown Elgin's Halloween festival, with a costume contest, live music and the "Something Wicked" exhibition. It falls two weeks before Halloween, so it's a chance to wear the costume twice.
- Side Street Studio Arts. The group that ran the contest is renovating its future home at 62 S. Grove Ave. Its gallery and retail space is open on weekends (Daily Herald).