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Banners on Parade Celebrates TWENTY Years

This great community art project has actually been going on for 22 years as of this year (2026)—the last twenty years have been banners! We have provided the City of Placerville with over 600 pieces of Community Art on Main Street, including 587 banners.

For 2026, the Call to Artists and Application went out in early February, and the banners premiered at the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce’s Business Showcase and I Love Film Mixer on June 5. See a video of photos taken at the Mixer here.

It has been Banners on Parade for the last TWENTY years (2007-2026). Before Banners on Parade, it was Wheelbarrows on Parade (2005) and Wine Barrels on Parade (2006). Click on any of the images below to view all the wonderful artwork for that year.

You can download a copy of the Walking Tour brochure here, or take yourself on a video tour here.

If you are interested in mementos from this exhibition, you can download a Keepsakes order form here.

Banners on Parade is a major annual event mainly sponsored by Images of Hope El Dorado.

2026 Schedule (Revised)

Judges

Lori Anderson

After retiring in 2002 and taking a trip to Italy, Lori had the time, and was inspired to paint. She wanted to capture the architecture of Venice, the rolling hills and picturesque towns of Tuscany. Lori started painting in Acrylics and then made the change to Oils. She enjoys painting large flowers, animals as well as landscapes.She loves to intensify color in her landscape paintings.

Sculpting in clay is Lori’s new passion. She enjoys sculpting animals and recognizable characters and give them expressive faces. She wants to create something that will make people smile.

Lori is currently the President of Folsom Arts Association. She is a member El Dorado Hills Arts Association and of the Gold Country Artists Gallery in Placerville, where she was the President for six years.

You can also see Lori’s work at More Than Olives on Sutter Street in Folsom.

Carolyn Cunningham

A native Californian, Carolyn Cunningham has been creating art all her life. She holds a degree in Art Education, was a public-school art teacher for 20 years, taught drawing classes to adults and children, and was involved in several community art events in her previous city in Southern California. She has been involved in several art associations over the years and since moving to this area in 2020, has become a member of Placerville Arts Association, El Dorado Hills Arts Association, Sacramento Fine Arts, Rancho Cordova Arts and Colored Pencil Society of America. She is on the Board of Directors for Placerville Arts Association and is Show Chair for PAA’s two annual member shows, as well as Co-chair of the 60th National Mother Lode Exhibition. She currently shows her artwork at Art Studio 360 in Placerville.

Carolyn works in a variety of media, most recently colored pencil, scratchboard, oil, and mixed media collage. She has won several awards in Southern California and locally, including three Best of Shows and an Award of Excellence in the Mother Lode Exhibition. She has had her colored pencil work in five international exhibitions and is a Signature Member of Colored Pencil Society of America.

Keepsakes

As part of our fundraising efforts for Banners on Parade, we offer the following keepsakes that you can purchase to help us keep Banners on Parade alive!

  • Coffee Cup – This is a black or white coffee cup with a photo of the banner of your choice on it. There will be a photo of the front of the banner on one side of the cup, a photo of the back of the banner on the back side of the cup, and the name and artist in the middle.
  • Bookmarks & Magnets – These are a 2″W x 6″H image of a banner that you choose. It is printed on heavy cardstock for a bookmark or on a magnetic surface. The magnet looks great on your fridge!
  • Rolled Individual Posters – This is an image of one of the banners that you choose printed on glossy, heavy duty poster stock.

You can order Keepsakes in a couple ways:

  1. Grab a Walking Tour brochure at one of the businesses in downtown Placerville, fill out the 2026 Keepsakes Order Form in the brochure, include your check, and send it to the name and address listed on that page of the brochure.
  2. Download the order form from this website, fill it out, include your check, and mail it to the name and address on the order form.

History and Background

Banners on Parade is a community art project that is a collaborative effort of artists, businesses, non-profit organizations, and city government that promotes the arts on Historic Main Street in Placerville, California.

It is one of California’s longest-running community art projects, with 644 pieces of wonderful community art displayed through 2026.

In the first year of the exhibit (2005), artist-painted wheelbarrows were displayed (known as Wheelbarrows on Parade); in the second year of the exhibit (2006), artist-painted wine barrels were displayed (known as Wine Barrels on Parade). From 2007 through 2026, artist-painted canvas banners (30″W x 60″H) have been displayed—587 banners have been displayed on Main Street—and the event is called Banners on Parade.

Banners for 2026 premiered at the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce’s Business Showcase and I Love Film Mixer on Friday, June 5, and then the banners were installed on Main Street on July 13. They will be on display from July through October 2026 and be auctioned online from October 13 2026 at noon through October 23 2026 at 5 p.m. As in past years, keepsakes will be available.

Sponsors

Any endeavor like this needs to have sponsors. We have been lucky to have many great sponsors to help this effort over the years. Our sponsors for 2026 were:

  • Images of Hope – this was our major sponsor for 2026 and it is their sponsor image that will appears on the back of the 2026 banners and we thank them! Banners on Parade is now an annual Images of Hope El Dorado event.
  • El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce
  • City of Placerville
  • Cuppa Coffee & More
  • High Sierra Quilters
  • Geoff Boyd Memorial Artist Award – Winners to be announced during the summer of 2026
  • Marianne Kalem Legacy Award – Winner to be announced during the summer of 2026

Several of these have been sponsors many times, and we thank them all!

Committee Members

Over the many years of this project (our 22nd year is 2026), we have had a core group of committee members who are the managing board of the organization. This includes Paige Vansickle, who originated our “Banners on Parade” concept 20 years ago (along with Marianne Kalem), Lisa Crummett, and Bill Robinson, the event’s photographer and promoter. In addition, Mary Bist and Cathie Urquhart are now on the committee.

In any long-running event like this, there are changes and things happen. Three of our great members, Geoff Boyd, Charlene Young and Marianne Kalem have passed away in the last few years. We miss them dearly.

We also have a great group of supporting folks on the committee who step up every year help set up the banners for judging at the Images of Hope El Dorado event at Rainbow Orchards.

Volunteers

We have been lucky to have some great volunteers to help us when we needed it! So many tasks: carrying the banners back and forth to the cars and hanging them during the judging, cleaning the banners before the auction, helping to hang the banners for the auction, and taking them down afterward and so many more. Here’s a big thank you to those who have helped us over the years:

  • Cherie Cornelison of Cuppa Coffee & More for allowing us to use her business as a pickup and drop-off point for the banners starting in 2023
  • Debbie Cognata of High Sierra Quilters for allowing us to use her business as a pickup location for the Keepsakes
  • Many others have been there to help hang, move, and take down banners during the judging and the auction (during non-pandemic years before 2020)
  • The many great businesses on Main Street in Placerville have distributed the Banners on Parade brochures, especially Placerville News Company.

Volunteers help to make an organization great, and we’ve had the greatest. Our thanks to them all!