Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission selects mural site

Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion commissioners on Monday selected the west wall of the Executive Square building, 1 W. Mountain St., as the best location for a "Enjoy Local" mural by Jason Jones. The commission in May agreed to pay Jones $11,250 for the mural.
Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion commissioners on Monday selected the west wall of the Executive Square building, 1 W. Mountain St., as the best location for a "Enjoy Local" mural by Jason Jones. The commission in May agreed to pay Jones $11,250 for the mural.

FAYETTEVILLE -- The Advertising and Promotion Commission picked a canvas for the city's newest piece of public art Monday.

Commissioners last month agreed to pay Jason Jones $11,250 to paint a mural in one of three downtown locations, but they couldn't decide at the time where the mural should be painted or how it should look.

Fayetteville Advertising and Promotion Commission

Commissioners on Monday selected Robert Rhoads as the commission’s newest member, subject to City Council approval. Rhoads, a lawyer and former City Council member, will replace Bobby Ferrell, who decided to step down after more than two years on the commission and eight years as a Ward 3 alderman.

Rhoads previously served on the Advertising and Promotion Commission from 2005 through 2010.

“Of all the things I’ve been involved with in Northwest Arkansas … I truly enjoyed this commission the most,” he said during an interview Monday.

Jim Huson, who owns Doe’s Eat Place restaurants in Fayetteville and Bentonville as well as the old post office building in the center of the downtown square, and Darren Harper, a marketing creative director with Arvest Bank, also applied for the position.

Source: Staff Report

Jones is the same artist who has painted utility boxes in the center of the Fayetteville square, a "Shop Local" mural on the side of a building at 275 S. Archibald Yell Blvd. and a depiction of Old Main in the Arkansas Union.

After he presented several options for his latest mural Monday, including the David McKee Architect building, 545 W. Center St., and piers supporting the Center Street railroad crossing, commissioners selected the west wall of the Executive Square building, 1 W. Mountain St., as their favorite. The building, adjacent to the plaza in front of Fayetteville Town Center, is owned by the Karlee Bradberry Trust, according to Washington County property records.

Jones told commissioners Monday he has preliminary approval from the Bradberrys to paint the mural but needs to review several design options with them and Town Center staff in the coming weeks.

The commission's preference is a colorful depiction of a tree and a tree swing with the words "enjoy local" emblazoned on it.

Commissioner Matt Behrend said the mural would complement the square and the Fayetteville Farmers' Market and would serve as an appropriate backdrop for brides wanting to book wedding receptions at the Town Center.

"I think this advertises and promotes Fayetteville at the same time," Behrend said. "It's really kind of a way to put a stamp on things and show people that we appreciate the arts as well as the community."

Jones said the mural should take two or three weeks to paint, weather permitting.

The commission's money will be used to rent a lift, pay for supplies, apply for a city sign permit and cover roughly 150 hours of artist labor.

Jones said a layer of clear coat may need to be reapplied every four to five years at a cost of $400 to $500 to keep the mural from fading.

Monday's meeting helped settle where Jones' mural will be painted, but it doesn't address how the commission will handle artists' requests for public funding in the future.

Commissioner Hannah Withers said she's a huge fan of Jones' work but doesn't think the commission is equipped to deal with future requests.

"I think this is going to begin an onslaught of people who want to do public art, and we don't have a process in place for it," Withers said.

The Fayetteville Arts Council, a volunteer board composed of four working artists and five residents at-large, reviews proposals for art on city-owned land.

But, as Withers noted Monday, "They're an advisory commission only, and, so, they're actually not allowed to handle funds."

Withers recommended forming a committee of several Advertising and Promotion commissioners, several Arts Council members and possibly a mayor's representative to figure out how to address future funding requests.

"I agree," Ching Mong, commission chairman said. "That definitely needs to be dealt with."

NW News on 06/16/2015

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