Since 1993, the city’s Art in Public Places program has invested millions of dollars in commissioning large-scale artwork for display across Aurora. Historically, the program has drawn its funding from a toll on the budgets for city construction, remodeling and renovation projects that run more than $100,000. Such construction includes projects financed by the city’s capital projects, conservation trust and bond funds. Construction includes public work on golf courses, parks and fire stations.

Even with the economic challenges facing the public art program in the coming months, Miller said staff will still work to fill their mission in finalizing works in progress. In commissioning the painting for the fire department museum, which will be unveiled later this spring, Miller said the Art in Public Places staff drew on input from the city’s firefighters.

They wanted a piece that would encompass the history of the city’s fire department, which started as an unorganized volunteer group at the turn of the century.

It was a message that Illig chose to convey through multiple images.

The depiction of a battered helmet bearing the name of the Aurora Fire Department shares the top of the canvas with an image of one of the city’s oldest fire trucks, while a muted picture of a modern masked firefighter wielding occupies the center. One of the city’s first multi-storied buildings takes up the upper corner, and a worn pair of modern fire boots decorates the bottom of the canvas.

“I want to make sure that what I’m doing has a ring of truth to it,” said Illig, who served as the Art Department Chair at Rangeview High School from 2002 to 2006. Since retiring, Illig has shifted his focus to being a full-time artist, showing his pieces regularly at the Plus Gallery in Denver. “These are based on real, historical events in Aurora’s firefighting.”

It was an approach that resonated with the program’s judges.

“They really loved the way that Peter was able to incorporate a lot of different images into one composition. He is just really masterful at doing that,” Miller said. “That’s really his strength. That’s why they picked him as the artist they wanted to work with.”

As he put the finishing touches on the canvas, Illig said he designed the painting with its ultimate destination in mind. The city’s historic Fire Station No. 1 on East 16th Avenue stands at the site of the city’s first City Hall, constructed in 1907. When it was built, the hall housed one of Aurora’s first fire detection systems, which comprised an alarm bell, a telephone and a chemical wagon.

Illig said that the site’s significance played into his design.

“I was thinking a lot about school groups, because a lot of school groups are going to go through that museum,” Illig said. “As a teacher, I felt like I really wanted to communicate clearly to young people, to have something to say … It was something that the public should get something from, so you can look at this and say, ‘Wow, Aurora has a proud history of firefighting.’”

It’s a value that Illig says will outlast temporary strains on the city’s budget, and one that he hopes will make public artwork valuable and prized for years to come.

“These things will be around a long time. Budgets come and go, but art will be there forever,” Illig said. “Seeing the real fire station is neat, and seeing the art work in the fire station is good, too.”