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Mural program one step closer to reality

Kile Brewer
Posted 3/8/17

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Green Cove Springs is on its way to becoming Florida’s newest mural city, attracting tourists to admire its history as told by various local artists.

At its March 7 …

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Mural program one step closer to reality


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Green Cove Springs is on its way to becoming Florida’s newest mural city, attracting tourists to admire its history as told by various local artists.

At its March 7 meeting, city council voted unanimously to support the program that will be led by artists but governed by a mural ordinance that has been in the works for about a year.

“What (the council) did tonight was vote to make changes to the current ordinance and finalize the mural application form,” said Danielle Judd, city manager. “The concept came forward within the last year, so we fleshed out the details and came back with a plan.”

The first of the murals will most likely be a concept that local artist Amy Stump has been working on for a few months, a picturesque view of a sunny afternoon in Spring Park. Artists are in talks to place the mural on the side of the Exit Realty building across from Green Cove Springs City Hall. Stump presented a mock-up of what the mural would look like with each council member; the mayor, and vice mayor in agreement that the artwork was a beautiful representation of the town.

“I grew up in the fifth or sixth generation from (Green Cove Springs),” Stump said. “I’m so excited that I get to paint the town that I love so much.”

At the meeting, Stump spoke enthusiastically about her willingness to keep up murals she paints, as well as some of the existing murals in the city. Upkeep would include regular applications of UV coating to prevent the colors from fading, which was a concern for Councilman Steven Kelley, as well as general touch-up work on paint to keep the color vibrant and deal with potential paint chipping and peeling.

The proposed ordinance change would leave operation of the mural program out of the city’s hands, differing from the citywide mural projects that are seen in communities like Palatka, a program that was discussed during the meeting.

In Green Cove Springs, murals will be seen as signs, going up on commercial businesses and providing no advertising or commercial benefit, only the expression of “ideas or beliefs.” Once the ordinance is changed, the murals will be selected through discussions between interested artists and the owners of the private buildings they want to paint on. The only part the city will play will be the necessity of the council to approve a final mock-up of the murals before the artist begins painting; after completion, the mural will be the responsibility of the building owner.

Councilman Van Royal, whose building will potentially be the first host to one of the historic murals, expressed concerns that the murals could end up being a burden on the building owner, and would consider that responsibility a donation to the city through money spent on upkeep and potential removal of murals. These issues are to be discussed when drafting the final ordinance.

The council’s next meeting is March 21.