Public art commissioned in Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE — The same people who painted a giant owl on the side of a decrepit building off the Fayetteville square, catching eyes and prompting numerous selfies, will soon create five more murals or art installations around town.
The Advertising and Promotion Commission agreed Wednesday to a contract with Justkids, a public art production company most notably associated with the Unexpected Project in Fort Smith. That two-year endeavor produced dozens of murals and art installations in Fort Smith. Justkids also curated the large owl painted on the side of the old Mountain Inn building at Center Street and College Avenue in Fayetteville.
The general terms of the contract would have Justkids hire five artists, at least two of whom would be local, to create five semipermanent artworks in yet-to-be determined locations in the city. The artists would work on the pieces all at once from Aug. 17-27, leading up to the Fayetteville Roots Festival.
Justkids will coordinate, organize and supervise the production of the art. Officials with Experience Fayetteville, the city’s tourism bureau, will work with Justkids and property owners to determine where the pieces will go. Experience Fayetteville also will find a hotel to house the out-of-town artists during the project.
In 2015, the commission set aside $100,000 for a public art initiative. The agreement commissioners approved Wednesday would pay Justkids $73,184, although the contract still has to be finalized, commission attorney Vince Chadick said.
“I don’t anticipate that in their final proposal the contract or anything would materially change,” he said.
The money from the contract will go to Justkids, which in turn will pay the artists. Chadick said the commission’s bylaws didn’t require a public bidding process for the art project.
Executive Director Molly Rawn, who was hired last summer, said she wanted to respect the commission’s 2015 wishes, and said Justkids came highly recommended from colleagues in Fort Smith. The $100,000 was set aside for the 2016 budget but stayed in the commission’s coffers because of staff and personnel changes.
Rawn said she thought using the money for something else would have been inappropriate.
“It wouldn’t be in keeping with the spirit of what the commission wanted,” she said.
Commissioner Matt Behrend said he appreciated the pop-up art aspect of the project and how its promotion would tie into the Roots Festival.
“I’m happy to see this off the ground and in this phase. That’s kind of exciting,” he said. “We had that conversation, what, two or three years ago? It was exciting then, and now it’s all coming to fruition. That’s kind of a cool thing to see happen.”