There’s a new craze on social media, and it’s carrying over to the Lemont High School football games. That being the demand for colorfully painted banners.
The painted banner trend surged in the spring 2025 and continued to the summer. People started to commission artists on TikTok to paint on brown butcher paper for their events. Whether it’s for their child’s birthday, graduation party, or retirement, artists have found a creative way to paint their customers’ desires.
What’s interesting about this fad is how it’s being brought into the LHS community. The first way we will see this incorporated into LHS will be under the Friday night lights.
The idea sprouted from Lemont’s Gold Rush committee. Having brought up the idea to Vice Principal, Matthew Doherty, he quickly commissioned senior artist Kaitlyn Malone to paint banners for the home football games. Each banner will correlate to the theme that students choose to dress up for every home game.
Malone was thrilled when the opportunity was brought up to her. Having taken almost every art class offered at LHS, this was an exciting opportunity to showcase her artistic talents and desires.
However, Malone is not new to the banner world as she had previously created her own banner business, Kate’s Banner Co. Malone’s business quickly took off and she ended up painting her summer away.
“[Painting banners] definitely got to be a lot. However, I enjoyed having an extra excuse to paint throughout my summer,” Malone said.
While Malone is unsure of how else these banners will be brought into LHS, she is ready to paint whatever it is requested from Doherty. Anxiously awaiting her next project, Malone is looking forward to her seeing her designs fronting the student section.
Be sure to check out Malone’s Instagram account, katesbannerco._, for your banner needs.
