Downtown Beautification…
Public art can have a very positive effect on communities. With the legacy funds that are currently available, opportunities exist to identify and implement some exciting projects!
Montevideo worked through a newly formed Montevideo Arts Project (MAP) committee that is made up of local citizens, business owners, city staff, elected officials, and chamber of commerce staff to do just that. This committee has created their first project: a mural behind the Jose Artigas Statue in the heart of Main Street Montevideo.
The mural was painted by Shawn McCann, an accomplished mural artist from Crystal, MN, and celebrates the relationship between the city of Montevideo and Montevideo, Uruguay. McCann and his design was selected from 10 different artists by the citizen members of MAP, and funding for the mural was provided by the following:
- Southwest Minnesota Arts Council
- City of Montevideo
- Montevideo Area Chamber of Commerce
- Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
- Community donations.
The MAP committee has a goal to create one public art piece per year. UMVRDC staff helped with the coordination, grant writing and facilitation of this project. The UMVRDC has been working to facilitate public art projects in our region in an effort to assist our local units of governments in creating public art projects that will address needs in their communities, and to access funding available from the Southwest Minnesota Arts Council for these projects.
Community members interested in learning more about the mural and and future projects can contact Kristi Fernholz, Senior Planner at the Upper Minnesota Valley Regional Development Commission at 320-289-1981×106 kristi.fernholz@umvrdc.org.
