By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
For those who have waited for public art to become part of Mesquite’s downtown revitalization, the wait is nearing an end. The Mesquite Public Arts Commission (MPAC) is getting ready to beautify the city with a variety of public artwork. And there is a lot more planned for the future.
MPAC recently received a grant of $18,884 from the Nevada Main Street program. That gets the ball rolling for the local organization and public art will begin appearing at various spots in the city within the next few weeks.
“We received notice that we got the grant about two weeks ago,” said MPAC President Christine Picior. “And we have been flying ever since trying to find wonderful ways to spend all of this money in beautifying the downtown area.”
A large portion of the grant funding is going toward producing a number of custom wraps to beautify the many large electrical utility boxes that appear along the streets of Mesquite. MPAC is working with Salt
Lake City artist Rachelle Knight who has created a number of colorful illustrations depicting elements derived from local history and culture.
“Rachelle is a great artist,” Picior said. “She is from Salt Lake but she displays work in our gallery (Mesquite Fine Arts Center) all the time. In fact, we are the only gallery that she displays in.”
Knight has created seven different illustrations. Each of these will be used to manufacture wraps especially made to fit the various electrical boxes, Picior said.
“She has donated these pictures for us to use,” Picior said of Knight. “So we are just reimbursing her for her art supplies. The rest of the cost is just in printing and installing the wraps.”
Clark County Printing in Mesquite will be converting the illustrations into wraps that can be affixed to the utility boxes. The local business will also do the installation onto the boxes. But the Overton Power District (OPD5) will be closely overseeing that process since the utility owns the boxes.
“It is actually kind of big deal to do this,” Picior said. “We have been working with OPD on it because the boxes have to be cleaned off and then the wraps can be put on. But it is tricky because the boxes are high voltage and there are some concerns there. So OPD has been good to work with us and get the project off the ground. It will look really nice when the project is done.”
The first boxes are anticipated to be ready to go by the latter half of this month, Picior said.
“We are not sure of a date yet because there are still a lot of variables and schedules involved,” she said. “But we are going to be having a big grand unveiling when the first one gets done.”
Picior said MPAC will get the word out on this event as soon as the date is set. Keep an eye on The Progress for those details.
In addition to the grant money, three local donors have pitched in to move the process forward, Picior explained. The Eureka Resort has donated funds for one of the boxes to be wrapped. Local residents Lance and Sue Barr have contributed for another one. And Deep Roots Harvest has donated funds toward startup expenses on the project.
MPAC is also using the grant to purchase three sculptures. These public artworks will be installed at various places along the walking trail which runs from Old Mill Park to the downtown area.
One of these sculptures is created by St. George artist Matt Clark. Clark is the artist who created “Painted Pony,” a wonderful sculpture which is located in front of the Ancestor Square restaurant of the same name.
The other two pieces which MPAC is acquiring are by artist Hill Brinn, and artist from Salida, Colorado. Picior said that MPAC members had seen Hill’s sculptures exhibited recently at the St. George Art Festival.
“We were drawn to them and they were just beautiful,” Picior said. “They were perfect for a walking trail. They grab the eye and they will just produce a really nice effect.”
Picior said that all three of the sculptures were very reasonably priced. The total for all three is just over $6,000, she said.
Finally, MPAC has plans to use part of the grant funding to purchase a set of 25 new street post banners to be placed along the revitalization district in downtown Mesquite.
Picior said that these projects will be a wonderful start for the ongoing work of MPAC in beautifying the city.
“I think that we have such a big art community here,” Picior said. “We have so many amazing artists. It would just be wrong not to make this an artsy place.”
For more information on how to further the work of MPAC and/or make a donation to bring public artwork to the city of Mesquite, call Mesquite City Hall at 702-346-5295.
