The city of Laramie has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to help create a public art plan. Last week, member organizations hosted the first community meetings to discuss the plan. Residents can also suggest projects and locations on this online survey.
Consultants Renee Piechocki and Jennifer McGregor have been hired to help the community develop an ongoing and sustainable public art plan.
Piechocki explains, “Jennifer and I haven’t been hired as curators, per se. We’ve been hired to come up with a system that anyone in Laramie can use to commission public art in the future.”
At last Saturday’s public meeting, Piechocki showed slides of public art projects around the country – painted crosswalks, modular bandstands, and pedestrian bridges with fences in the shape of mountains. Then she showed pictures of places in Laramie that hold potential for a public art project – unused flagpoles off the interstate, a vacant hallway in the Civic Center, and a forgotten fluorescent sign on 3rd Street.
For Piechocki and McGregor, it’s important community members feel empowered to come up with and propose public art projects.
A plan will be drafted and open to public comments in April.
