ROGERS -- A London-based artist will paint a mural on the side of a downtown building this month.
The Rogers Public Arts Commission on Thursday unanimously approved the project that has been a partnership between the city, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Walton Family Foundation. A $30,000 grant from the foundation is paying for the project, said Ben Cline, spokesman for the city.
A rendering of the proposed painting shows a woman wearing sunglasses with images of Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" on each lens.
"This is really exciting. This is a chance to get a massive, beautiful mural up in Rogers," said Alejo Benedetti of Crystal Bridges.
The more than 50-foot-tall mural will be on the side of the Old Ice House Building, 500 S. Arkansas St. The building is privately owned, Cline said.
The building used to house Rogers Ice and Cold Storage beginning in the 1890s, said Jennifer Sweet, operations manager at the Rogers Historical Museum.
Artist Rich Simmons plans to start painting Monday and be finished by April 15 or 16, Benedetti said.
The mural will be a nice backdrop for downtown, said Shey Bland, executive director of Downtown Rogers, a nonprofit organization that focuses on programming and events.
Bland said she would like to see more public art downtown and hopes this mural is the beginning.
NW News on 04/05/2019