New Mural Project in Northwood Brings More Public Art to Galleries, Shops and Restaurants
Murals serve as more than decorations on walls. They give passersby a glimpse into the neighborhood where murals are displayed on walls of buildings. The area may be “coming back” or “already there”. Look at the wide variety and rich cultural history of the murals found in Philadelphia, PA. The Rickie Report is pleased to share information about the newest mural project in the Northwood Village area of West Palm Beach. Onlookers are always welcome! Here we focus on the three artists involved, Eduardo Mendieta, Craig McInnis and Amanda Valdes. The images shown are previous works by the artists at other locations.
NORTHWOOD VILLAGE
MURAL PROJECT
Initially there will be 4-5 murals painted on buildings located on Northwood Road, Spruce Avenue and 25th Street. The goal is to beautify and bring more vitality to the neighborhood. Each mural will be painted by a different artist. Two murals will begin in August. Other artists are waiting for approval of their designs before work can begin. Eduardo Mendieta is spearheading the project.
The Process*
- Before an artist can legally create art on a wall there are numerous checklists and approvals that are needed. Building owner approval and City approval must be obtained. Contacting the building owner may be a challenge, as it is likely that if a business rents their space they deal with a landlord. The landlord can give some approvals but when it comes to a mural, the owner is generally the one that needs to sign off on it. So the process from idea > landlord > owner can be lengthy. It can also take face-to-face time and usually a presentation to encourage the decision makers that the proposed mural idea is beneficial to not only their business but also to the owner’s profit margins and as a neighborhood improvement.
- The permitting process usually involves calls to the City, finding the correct department and obtaining the paperwork needed to get a City Permit. The permit’s cost may depend on the budget of the mural. For the sake of argument let’s say we take the lesser option and it costs us $75 for the permit. This same permit needs to be filled out and signed by the owner. Again, quite possibly another case of permit > landlord > owner.
- A ‘pre-approval’ is the next step. The real decision of all approvals comes with committees such as Art In Public Places and the CRA Advisory Board. They oversee anything and everything happening in their appointed districts. Both of those require a presentation, and it’s best to have some kind of pre-approval heading into it, either from the City or from a Merchant Association, or both depending on what committee you are presenting to. Someone has to put together a proper presentation filled with photos, mock-ups, approved paperwork, etc. It’s also noteworthy that committees like these do not meet everyday or even every week so you have to be patient and wait your turn to secure a place on a meeting agenda. It takes roughly 10 days or so for your permitting paperwork to clear the City in order for you to get on an agenda for presentation.
- Guess what? You still haven’t put a single drop of paint on a wall yet! During these presentations and (fingers crossed) approvals, an appropriate work of art must be selected for the mural space. This might require an outside juror and a fee so that proper selection is made with fairness. It takes time to gather all of applicants and their work in order for the jurying process to take place. If a juror is not in place, a different committee takes on the role of selecting artists, interviewing artists, reviewing portfolios and proposed mock-ups.
- That whole process takes a lot of time, money and patience. If a full-time business person is taking on this task, it’s easily hours of preparation and follow-through. If it were someone’s only job it would likely take them a month or two (at best) to get to a point of painting the wall. Compare that to a month or two of your own salary on top of the paperwork costs. For example, if someone was paid $30/hour to complete this task and they worked on it roughly for one month at eight hour work days, their fee would equal $4,800. You can easily spend 8 hour work days on a project like this when it comes to coordination of phone calls, emails, presentation assembly, time spent traveling to and from meetings and City Hall, selecting the juror(s), contacting, paying… Or if your committee handles some of the coordination, then it’s the committee meetings that require time and feedback amongst everyone involved. * Information from Jonathon Ortiz-Smykla of OSGS Gallery| Studio
Approved Sites/Proposed Sites
How This All Began
There’s More to the Story
Previous Mural Art Installations
EDUARDO MENDIETA
For more information visit: www.eduardomendieta.com
CRAIG McINNIS
Visit Craig at facebook.com/craigartist, or email at craigart896@hotmail.com
or go old school and buzz me 561.389.4800
AMANDA VALDES
Amanda shares, “I’m very excited to start the Northwood mural project and work with the community to brighten the neighborhood with public art. Northwood is an eclectic area with so much potential.
Amanda is an accomplished artists and has created murals for other cities. She says, “I feel like Northwood is starting to blossom into something even greater than it is now.”