The Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville's Art in Public Places (APP) Committee is launching a series of new public art murals for the downtown urban core with the announcement of two mural design winners for the Art in Public Places Yates Parking Garage mural project.
The building's new murals will be painted onto existing 50' stair towers located along Adams Street at the northeast and northwest corners of Market and Newnan streets.
The Arts in Public Places Committee hopes that they will "create a visual connector to accessible public parking, showcase Jacksonville's dynamic artist community, and the community's priority to promote greater accessibility to public art for all ages and backgrounds. "
How the murals will 'create a visual connector to accessible public parking' is undertandably vague (Probably this wording was included solely to comply with the grant which funded the project and sounds better than "They are beautifying an otherwise ugly parking garage") but it will showcase a few great local artists in a prominent place.
An Art Selection Panel of local art, design and community professionals, selected two winning designs following an RFP (Request for Proposals) issued in mid-December for artists residing in the five-county First Coast area. Selection criteria were based on artistic excellence, sustainability, related artist experience, level of community engagement, improvement of the pedestrian environment, and the design's function as an identifier into the Spark District.
The first mural, by St. Augustine artists Felici Asteinza and Joey Fillastre of Milagros Art Collective, will be an abstract design best seen by drivers entering Adams Street from the Hart Bridge Expressway. The second, by Neptune Beach artist Sean Mahan, will feature more figurative and symbolic images to engage audiences closely at the pedestrian level. Work is slated to begin in late February or early March and will be completed in April.
Separately, another colorful mural will undergo a two-week installation process in late February. Funded by Downtown Vision Inc.'s Laura Street Facade Grant Program and Chamblins Uptown. Local street artist Shaun Thurston will paint on-site for the project.
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