Public art grants awarded by Heritage Department

The Department of Arkansas Heritage presented Public Art Grant checks in a ceremony at their headquarters in Little Rock on Friday, March 11, 2022. $42,035 in grant funding was distributed to communities across the state.

The Public Art Grant Program assists communities that participate in the Main Street Arkansas program in the planning and implementation (including purchasing and commissioning works of art) of art in places viewable by the public within the Main Street district and on gateways to Main Street districts.

Projects must be new, site specific, public art and not memorial statues or works of religious nature. The artworks can include, but are not limited to, murals and tile work, paintings and drawings (of permanent nature), and sculpture. The artwork must be freely visible and accessible to the public for at least two years. After installation of public art, applicant will be required to coordinate an unveiling event with Arkansas Heritage.

Here are the recipients:

• Main Street Batesville – Batesville History: Made in the Shade, $3,511
• Conway Downtown Partnership – Tiny Toads Tour, $10,000
• Main Street Dumas – Main Street Dumas Mural, $5,000
• Main Street West Memphis – Legendary Soul, $5,000
• Five Rivers Historical Preservation, Inc. – Public Art Grant, $5,000
• Wynne Downtown Revitalization – From One Mural Comes Many…, $1,150
• Downtown Little Rock Partnership – Best Park Stairwell Mural, $5,000
• Main Street Osceola, Inc. – Sons of Seals, $7,374

The Public Art Grant Program assists communities that participate in the Main Street Arkansas program in the planning and implementation (including purchasing and commissioning works of art) of art in places viewable by the public within the Main Street district and on gateways to Main Street districts. Projects must be new, site specific, public art and not memorial statues or works of religious nature.

The artworks can include, but are not limited to, murals and tile work, paintings and drawings, and sculpture. The artwork must be freely visible and accessible to the public for at least two years. After installation of public art, applicants are required to coordinate an unveiling event with Arkansas Heritage.