The Colfax Arts Council recently finalized designs for four public murals set to adorn downtown buildings and the city pool as part of a joint public-private effort to promote community involvement in the arts.
Arts council president Debby Stinson said the group has spent months with artists, city officials, building owners and other stakeholders to put together designs that create a “celebratory backdrop” for community events.
“The theme is nature, but … this was a loose theme for them to interpret,” she said. “We also included the words whimsical, happy, and light. Each artist was to create a piece that included nature in the works, but was not limited to nature only.”
Stinson said the effort will include the four murals as well as a youth project in which local students paint fish silhouettes for display on chainlink fences along Lake Street. The projects have received a combined $33,000 with the Colfax City Council approving a $15,000 lodging tax grant and another $18,000 in private donations and arts council funds.
The work should begin in early summer and finish up by late September. Four regional artists have agreed to design and paint murals:
- Spokane artist Melissa Cole is set to paint a landscape of native flowers and bees on the south side of the Dusty Attic building with some recycled glass mosaic elements. The mural will wrap around and frame the existing Colfax 1881 mural.
- Pullman artist Cori Dantini is set to paint whimsical wheat stalks and wildlife along the north side of the Bully For You building.
- Colfax painter and high school art teacher Henry Stinson, who is also married to Debby Stinson, plans to paint a pair of American Gothic-style robots with a pitchfork on the south side of the Fonk’s Coffee House.
- Colfax/Spokane artist Yelena Yunin will paint a scene of koi fish and lily pads along two sides of the Colfax City Pool facility.
Mural renderings created by Colfax Arts Council.
Debby Stinson, who works as the marketing and public relations manager for WSU’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, said the mural designs went through several revisions before final approval last week. She acknowledged building consensus around public art can prove challenging.
“Everybody has different opinions of what they like in public art,” she said. “Getting them to agree is impossible, but our artists have made every effort to appeal to a wide range of artistic taste.”
Stinson noted the businesses and building owners had approved of all the proposed designs.
Arts council grant materials say the mural project would cost approximately $20,000 overall. Stinson said each artist will receive $4,500 for his or her work. Other expenses would go toward power-washing, priming and equipment costs.
About $10,000 will go toward creating fish silhouettes for school children to paint for the Lake Street Greenway Youth Project. Stinson expected thousands of students to contribute fish paintings over the next few years.
The council plans to apply for additional grants next year to continue the efforts.
“The community has been almost overwhelmingly supportive,” she said of the two projects. “We really want these to be made and enjoyed by our community.”