FORT SMITH -- People who use the city transit service downtown can expect to see a new, artistically inclined way of staying out of the elements while waiting for their ride.
Talicia Richardson, executive director of the Fort Smith-based 64.6 Downtown, said her organization teamed with artist Sarah Ridgley and the city to produce transit shelters in and around the downtown area with interiors displaying the work of local artists.
Ken Savage, director of the city Transit Department, said 10 of the shelters are planned, although more could be acquired if enough money is available. The project is budgeted at $200,000.
Ridgley, who's based in Fort Smith, said she contacted 64.6 Downtown with interest in establishing the transit shelters in late 2021. She was inspired to do so after seeing a man standing at a bus stop in the rain and deciding to give him an umbrella about a year ago.
"The main thing is just a way to get out of the elements," Ridgley said. "I would love for people to be able to use the bus and not have to worry about being in the rain if their hands are full of stuff, or they have kids, or they're on one of those motorized wheelchair things."
The art aspect of the project is meant to give people something take in something while waiting for their bus, according to Ridgley. It will also give local high school and college students an opportunity to exhibit their work publicly and build their portfolios and experience as artists.
Ridgley said she's a generative artist, meaning she creates computer programs producing art while they run. She released a generative art project on the digital platform Art Blocks before reaching out to Richardson, which provided the opportunity to direct some of the resulting money to a charitable organization of her choice for a project.
Savage said the department met with Richardson and Ridgley about the project as it was formulating its budget for this year. A $40,000 donation from Ridgley served as the local portion for an 80-20 match to leverage Federal Transit Administration grant money for the project, which will go toward purchasing, assembling and placing the 10 transit shelters. It will also cover the city Streets and Traffic Control Department providing site work and the concrete pads on which the shelters will be placed.
Savage said the shelters will be found along Transit Department routes. They will be placed in locations the department thought would be helpful to people who use the system, although there may be minor adjustments.
Ridgley said Richardson emailed local art teachers looking for students to participate in the project toward the end of the 2021-22 school year. A couple of students have expressed interest so far, and 64.6 Downtown will try to get more students involved during the upcoming school year.
"We are seeking artwork that promotes mental health and mindfulness in an effort to engage more people to utilize the city of Fort Smith public transit," Richardson said in her email. "Citizens utilize public transportation for a variety of reasons, whether by choice, circumstances or for environmental reasons. We are seeking to raise awareness and engagement with this local service through the attention that your artwork can bring."
Ridgley said two of the shelters are planned to feature her art. Those with questions about the project can email 64.6 Downtown at [email protected].
David Hewitt, the Transit Department's driver lead person, said the shelters are expected to arrive for the department to assemble in late September. When they will all be installed will depend on the Transit Department's staffing and the Streets Department laying the concrete pads.
Richardson said 64.6 Downtown expects to have these "art-infused shelters" installed in early winter.
The collaboration is part of the organization's efforts to create partnerships with artists in the local area and region in an intentional way, as well as opportunities that build or provide training for new artists, according to Richardson.
64.6 Downtown is dedicated to creating vibrant spaces in Fort Smith's downtown by way of business development, arts and culture, special events and projects and promoting attractive amenities, according to the organization's website. This is all meant to help accelerate development of diverse commerce.
One of the organization's past endeavors was the Unexpected, a yearly event in which artists from around the world were brought in to ply their trade downtown, often in the form of murals that can still be seen today.
Richardson said another example of 64.6 Downtown's partnerships is an upcoming creative writing workshop for youth and adults with the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville and Fayetteville-based artist Leah Grant.
The free event will take place 6-8 p.m. Thursday at 1100 Garrison Ave., according to a news release. Participants will learn about the process of writing a letter to a friend, as well as hand foiling their letters. They may also have their letters featured as part of a series of large-scale public art works created by Grant.
Richardson said this event is widening the community's vision of what constitutes art.
"64.6 Downtown is most known for its programming of the Unexpected murals, right?" Richardson said. "So art is more than the incorporation of murals in your art scene. It is the creative writing aspect of it, it's the culinary arts aspect of it, it is the dance, the choreographing, it's the music, the live music, the creation of all things that yield art and culture for a community."
Danielle Hatch, associate director of community engagement for Crystal Bridges, said Thursday's event is part of a series of programs the museum is facilitating across the region over six months.
"Leah is leading one workshop per month in different cities, and each city following the workshop has a piece of public art installed, which is a large-scale version of one of the participant's letters that also has that hand foiling technique that Leah demonstrates in the workshop," Hatch said.
A leaf-shaped sculpture displays at a bus stop on Friday, August 5, 2022, along N. 31st Street in Fort Smith. Talicia Richardson, executive director of 64.6 Downtown, said the organization has teamed up with artist Sarah Ridgley and the city of Fort Smith to produce “art-infused” transit shelters in and around the downtown area that will feature works from local artists. Ken Savage, director of the Fort Smith Transit Department, said 10 of these transit shelters are currently planned and will be paid for using a combination of federal funds and a donation from Ridgley. Visit nwaonline.com/220807Daily/ for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Hank Layton)