40 North is thrilled to announce the Signature Image for the 2026 Boneyard Arts Festival! After evaluating 90+ outstanding submissions, a panel of local arts professionals selected Zoya Wu’s Devotion (watercolor), to be the signature image of the 2026 Boneyard Arts Festival! The Boneyard Arts Festival signature image is featured on all festival registration materials, posters, postcards, billboards, print and online advertising, as well as on the cover of the Boneyard Arts Festival quick guide.
“We will make it through this storm together”
Two herons floating on an island of grass face an unknowable future. The surrounding void threatens to devour them as they huddle in the light of familiarity. Time will tell whether they will succumb, but for now, they endure.
“This image was created during a time of transition. I left many people and places I knew and returned to a version of life that no longer felt recognizable. This piece is a reminder and a promise: our experiences, growth, and relationships carry meaning, even as situations change. Facing an uncertain future, we learn to become our own guiding light.”
Zoya Wu is a painter and illustrator who specializes in watercolor, creating pieces that blend the natural world with vivid abstractions. Her work combines careful attention to detail with expressive color and imagined spaces.
Zoya grew up in Urbana, Illinois, before attending the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minnesota, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Illustration. She now lives in Urbana and enjoys spending time with her many animals and painting.
“My work draws inspiration from the natural world, using unusual color schemes and abstracted locations to create a dreamlike atmosphere. I use palettes that mix soft pastels, allowing gentleness to dominate, with flashes of vibrancy that demand attention, juxtaposing wandering softness with moments of arresting focus. I primarily work in watercolor, a medium that allows unpredictability and precision to exist side by side. The spontaneity of watercolor permits experimentation and surprise, inviting an embrace of uncertainty as I complete each piece.
My larger compositions are meditations on moments and situations in my life that I have found difficult to process or express. While these experiences remain personal, the emotions they hold, love, loneliness, and excitement, are universal. Through this lens, my work reflects the lived experience of the individual in dialogue with the broader human experience.
The inclusion of animals as the primary subjects in my work allows me to express personal feelings and situations without relying on literal self-representation. This symbolic distance opens the work to shared interpretation, extending beyond a single narrative or perspective. It invites viewers to bring their own experiences and allows for multiple, overlapping meanings.”
https://www.instagram.com/zoyakw
