Suitable Sites Sought for More Murals in Wheeling
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The Wheeling Arts & Cultural Commission is seeking more buildings on which artists can create murals.
The commission put out the call for available buildings this week on its social media.
"Do you have a building in Wheeling that you think would be a great location for a mural? The Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission is always seeking locations for public art across the City," according to the commission.
"Sites for consideration must be visible from the public right-of-way, be reasonably accessible from the ground or via lift or ladder, and have a well-maintained surface that is ready and able to be primed and painted."
The commission last year had a mural painted on the back of a building located at 1 23rd St. along Heritage Trail in Center Wheeling. It depicts various wildlife scenes painted by three different artists.
The arts commission has set aside money for such public works of art with financial help from Wheeling Heritage. They sought bids for the nature mural in September 2021. More than 20 qualified proposals came in from artists wanting to do it. After scoring the submissions, the commission chose three artists, all of whom lived in Ohio. The work took place in late October 2021.
People can fill out an application to have a building mural painted via the commission's Facebook page, "Wheeling Arts and Cultural Commission," or a link can also be found on the city of Wheeling's website under the "government" tab.
Betsy Sweeny, chairwoman of the commission and director of Heritage Programming at Wheeling Heritage, said the arts commission can place art anywhere within the city limits, but it wants locations that a lot of people will see, and historically this has been the downtown area.
"We want as many members of the public to enjoy the art as possible," Sweeny said.
She noted there typically is not a theme chosen ahead of time.
"If we have a property owner who knows they would like to have a mural on their building, but does not have a specific artist or concept prepared then yes, we will create an RFP, promote it, and evaluate the responses as a commission and with the property owner, just like we did for 23rd Street," she said.
"Property owners are also welcome to work with an artist to create their own concept and negotiate pricing, and bring that to the commission for support."
She said while the artists are allowed to be creative and original, the art must be appropriate for the public to view and the building owner must approve of it, too.
Sweeny said the biggest challenge they have faced with the mural program is finding sites that are ready to be painted on.
"We are a small commission with a reasonable budget, which means we are prepared to compensate artists for their time and talent, but we are not able to repair walls for building owners, furnish scaffolding or do any other extensive site prep," she said.
"The 23rd Street building was a perfect example of the kinds of places we hope to put murals. It was ready to be primed and painted, is highly visible from the trail, and has a flat, level space that made it easy and safe for artists to access the surface they were painting."
Sweeny said the commission is hoping to get started on a new mural during the warm weather months.
"And for how many murals and when the work will begin, we don't know. That will depend on the cost of the murals and their locations," she said.
On a side note, Sweeny said there are a few vacancies on the Wheeling Arts & Culture Commission. Those interested in joining the commission can send a letter of intent to the Wheeling City Clerk.
The Wheeling Arts & Cultural Commission meets at 5 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month in Council Chambers, located on the first floor of the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St.