Elgin to artists: We want public art proposals
Artists of the world, listen up: Elgin will solicit public art proposals next week, and you are invited to respond.
The cultural arts commission wants to fund two public art works this year, part of a new effort to enhance the city with art specifically created for Elgin in the belief that art can be a "placemaker" that helps public places become integral to a community's fabric.
"The calls will go out worldwide," Amanda Harris, the city's liaison to the commission, said during an informational meeting Thursday attended by about 40 people, many of them local artists.
The commission has been working on crafting an art plan with possible initiatives, such as matching grants for neighborhood public art projects and graffiti walls that would be painted over by different artists each season. The public art would be displayed for a while then loaned or donated to nonprofits and educational institutions, or even given back to the artists.
The plan will be presented to the city council in late April, but the process is getting a head start with the caveat that council approval is needed, Harris said.
The first two pieces of art would be on the south wall of the Hemmens - good for a mural, for example - and on a pedestal along Riverside Drive promenade.
Artist Freddrick Wimms said the city should be open to interactive art and art that incorporates elements such as sun and rain.
"Art is so much bigger than I can write down in a definition, so let's make sure that definition is open enough so that artists can have freedom."
The commission is setting aside $11,000 for the first two pieces; next year, it would be $15,000 for two more pieces of art, Harris said. The money would come out of the commission's budget, which is about $127,000, including $50,000 for grants to artists and arts nonprofits, she said.
Printmaker Jim Lloyd suggested a juried art show with works displayed throughout the city, which would create "a buzz" for Elgin.
Commission Chairman Joe Vassallo said he really liked the idea. "Arts is an economic driver," he said.
Rich Evans, who owns Art Area Studio 51, said he'd like new art in the empty downtown spot left behind by a controversial mural put in storage last May. The city took action after finding out it was inspired by a 1930 photo of a lynching.
"I think enough time has passed that we can put something there," Evans said. "Something that is kind of healing and collaborative."
That's on the list of possible locations for public art, but feedback from an informal survey done by the commission showed people prioritize art elsewhere, Harris said. Other future locations might be Newsome Park, Festival Park, the city's parking decks, the downtown bridges over the Fox River, railroad underpasses and more.
Art also can make less-traveled places come alive by drawing people, Wimms added. That's the concept behind neighborhood public art grants, Harris said.
Mayor David Kaptain said he hadn't seen the plan's details but endorses the general concept of more public art, especially along the river. It's important to consider how many people will see and benefit from it, he said.
It's also up to artists to take the initiative, mobilize as a group and make things happen, Lloyd said.
"You have support," Harris replied, "and you have backing here waiting for you."