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PUD Mural at Hwy 101 & Hwy 126 Intersection
The City of Florence and the City’s Public Arts Committee (PAC) are pleased to announce the selection of artist-team Marino-Heidel Studios from Portland to complete the large-scale mural on the Central Lincoln PUD shop building. This project, almost three years in the making, has been a partnership between enthusiastic citizens, members of the PUD, Tribal leaders, and City of Florence staff to beautify Florence and create a welcoming gateway to our city. The design chosen by the Public Arts Committee incorporates the iconic Siuslaw Bridge and native flora and fauna of our region while also paying homage to the Siuslaw people in a colorful and modern way.
UNDERSTANDING STITCHING TIME WEAVING CULTURES:
Stiching Time, Weaving Cultures mural celebrates folk arts and speaks to cultural interchange. In a contemporary and original manner, the mural also stitches together ideas that represent the Florence Area. The imagery is inspired by past and present arts of sewing and weaving disciplines / practices of many cultures. The style draws from and relates with the surrounding buildings' styles and the era they were constructed. In order to embrace and not erase these architectural features, the idea of quilting squares was developed. To learn more CLICK HERE.
The South wall of Stiching Time, Weaving Cultures is patterned after the 'Chevron' style American Quilt pattern. In this mural the pattern represents the mountains and river of the coast range. The Rhododendron's honor the Rhododendron Festival and abundance of beauty they provide our region. All aspects tie in the content of the main, East Facing mural. To learn more CLICK HERE.
LOCATION:
The mural is located on the South and East side of the Central Lincoln PUD shop building located at the corner of Highway 126 and Quince Street which serves as the western gateway from Eugene to our coastal city. This project is in association with the ReVison Florence streetscape project that will repave a portion of the Highway 101 and 126 corridors, widen sidewalks, create plazas and gathering space, and bury utility lines. The ReVision Florence project will commence in March 2019 and is estimated to be completed in Winter 2019.
ARTIST SELECTION PROCESS:
PAC’s process to choose an artist was inclusive and extensive. When the call-to-artists was posted in Summer of 2018, the Committee worked with local news agencies and art groups to ensure that local artists knew of the opportunity to apply. When the call closed to entries, the committee received over 100 entries from artists representing twenty-five states and four different countries. Once a subcommittee of PAC members narrowed down the candidates to 25, the committee then chose three artists to extend the invite to continue in the process. Those three artists received a $750 stipend to create three different renderings of their ideas for the mural.
At the same time, PAC started recruiting community members to apply for the project selection committee. This committee has been a proven way to engage the citizens of Florence who may not have time to serve on the full PAC or have a vested interest in this specific project. The committee received six applications for two positions on the Selection Committee. Though PAC had a difficult time choosing, the two people selected were Patricia Briggs, a local watercolor artist, and Annalee Griffis, a senior at Siuslaw High School. When the selection committee met on December 4th, there was a clear front runner. Marino-Heidel Studios stood out from the other two artists, and eventually was unanimously recommended to be the artist for the mural.
Once the artist was recommended to PAC, the committee held a hearing at their December 10th PAC meeting. Prior to this meeting, City staff drafted a letter and notified all businesses and properties within 500 feet of the mural. They also posted notification on the city’s website and issued a press release to local media outlets. The committee received a few responses beforehand, mostly positive about the mural, the selection process, and the committee as a whole. At the meeting, PAC heard from a few community members who were excited about the project, and the committee unanimously approved Marino-Heidel Studio’s design, “Stitching Time, Weaving Cultures.”
Since the selection of Marino-Heidel Studios, the committee has worked with the artists and local tribal representatives to ensure cultural sensitivity and relevancy. PAC has also worked with the Siuslaw News to ensure that the community is well-aware of our projects.
At the April 1, 2019 Florence City Council meeting, the Council voted to grant a mural permit for this project, as required by FCC 10-26.
PROJECT FUNDING:
Funding for this project has been made possible through generous funding from the Florence Urban Renewal Agency. The estimated cost of the project is $48,000 dollars, which includes a $30,000 contract with the artists, who will be providing all equipment and materials for the project. Florence Urban Renewal Agency approved the contract with Marino-Heidel Studios at the January 30, 2019 meeting. The contract was awarded before the mural permit was granted since a contract is required by FCC 10-26-6-G. PAC has applied for two grants to assist with this aspect of the project and received a grant award of $20,000 from the Oregon Community Foundation.
ART INSTALLATION:
The artists began mural installation at the Rhododendron Festival weekend in May 2019 and held a public paint day on Friday May 17th. During the art installation period over 200 local residents and visitors helped to participate in the mural painting both at the paint day and throughout the mural installation process.
Next steps after the artists complete the mural installation the City will work with local businesses to install the following:
- Quality top coating to protect the art piece from the coastal elements and graffiti,
- Mural signage,
- Lighting elements,
- Landscaping.
MURAL DEDICATION CEREMONY:
The City hosted a Mural Dedication Ceremony on Wednesday August 7, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. with over 130 attendees to celebrate the mural completion. The event welcomed distinguished guests from the artist team, City Council, Florence Urban Renewal Agency, City of Florence Public Arts Committee, Central Lincoln People's Utilities District, Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, and the Oregon Community Foundation.
QUESTIONS?
For more information about the Public Arts Committee and it’s projects, visit the City of Florence website at http://www.ci.florence.or.us/bc-pac/public-art-program. To be notified of Public Arts Committee meetings and other PAC happenings, please sign up for the mailing list.
Questions? Contact Community and Economic Development Assistant Sarah Moehrke.
Stitching Time, Weaving Cultures, A Mural
for Angie, Joel and the City of Florence
By: Poet Tim Barnes
What would you do with a wall
in the living room of a town,
where your people pass through,
the cross roads of the community?
Paint is with public art, perhaps,
a mural, which is another name
for a wall when it becomes
a window, a frame to see
life through, a view of who
you are. A gift. A way to say we.
Through winds swept along
the walls and tried to throw
the paints in other directions
and then gave into the colors,
the natural fabric of flowers
these walls welcome you into
reweaving season and shore,
stitching a quilt of days with bridges.
This mural is a bridge into history
as it happened and happens:
An elk and a bicyclist
on a bridge who might meet
in the bear grass weave
of flowers the Siuslaw
women have woven
from the hems of the marshlands.
and that bicyclist's twin on the south wall
tilted into the west where the sunset hangs
its moons and the winds spills across
the chevron shape of valleys and divides
watersheds and waves, the lowland
lakes breathing the sea, he's happy.
"Life," he thinks, "It's a gift."
This a wall to see with, to drive
by and grasp. A gift from the people
of Florence to the people of Florence
and to drivers, bikers, walkers, gulls, whoever
passes by may see a patterned web
of place, its embodiments -
history and imagination fused,
an earthy commonwealth.
About the Author:
Tim Barnes taught in the English Department at PCC Sylvania for twenty-five years, where he was the chair of the creative writing department and advisor on Alchemy, the campus literary magazine. Before that he worked for ten years as a poet in the Artists in Education Program in Oregon. He is author of several poetry collections, mos recently Definitions for a Lost Language. He co-edited Wood Works: The Life and Writings of Charles Erskine, Scott Wood, and was the leader of the acting troupe, the Heavenly Discourses. He has edited Friends of William Stafford: A Journal and Newsletter for Poets and Poetry since 2011.
