Arlington's public art fund finishes first projects

The city of Arlington passed a public art fund last year and is seeing the first round of projects this summer such as the Suddenly Dragons downtown project and a new mural at the Arlington Skate Park.

Those two projects, among many others, will be the first wave of art projects created from the fund.

The public art fund comes solely from construction sales tax that applies to new development.

Community Revitalization Project Manager Sarah Lopez said she went to an arts and culture conference in Ellensburg where she heard about other cities that have a similar fund.

"We talked to the mayor and she was supportive of the idea," and it was eventually passed with an ordinance from the Arlington City Council.

A city committee works with public proposals to choose projects.

"We did a grant application process so that the public could be part of the process," said Lopez. "We wanted to embed art in all areas of Arlington."

The committee received projects such as the downtown Arlington Suddenly Dragons project organized by local artist Monica Bretherton.

In the downtown Arlington area along Olympic Avenue and the Centennial Trail there are a number of dragons created by local artists for families to hunt for.

A website at suddenlydragons.com provides more info about the project.

"We started talking about what we could do in Arlington knowing that there would be this new fund in place," she said.

Dragons were suggested as something that could be fun for families.

"I loved dragons when I was a teenager, although it had not been something I've done in a while," she said.

Bretherton and other local artists developed a variety of ideas for artistic dragon installations. They even had some planned programs and activities ready for the Arlington Library.

"Around February we realized that it might not come together like we originally planned," she said. "With every element we talked about how much we could do with social distancing."

Originally dragons were going to be hidden in some local businesses, but have been put in windows instead.

The art pieces range from highly visible to more hidden pieces, said Bretherton.

"I am watching to see what happens with the public engagement," she said. "As I was dropping off some brochures the other day I heard a kid yelling 'dragon.'"

She said that sort of engagement with the community is what public art can be about.

"I'm really excited to see what will happen," she said. "We want to encourage people to go out and see it."

Local artist Josh Robinson also wanted to engage the community when he and a team proposed working on a mural at the Arlington Skate Park.

He and his fellow artists spent time to interview users at the skate park before painting it on Aug. 8 and 9.

"In a skate part where it is painted all the time it was important for us to get input from the local people about what they wanted to see," he said. "It's about the local people taking ownership of the space."

Some pictures they took of people using the skate park were also incorporated into the new mural.

Robinson teaches classes at JAG ArtWorks in Everett. "We've created a community over there of up and coming artists," he said, and one of those artists also uses the Arlington Skate Park and suggested Robinson apply to put art in there.

"I grew up 15 minutes from this skate park and I went to it as a kid," he said, so he was excited to contribute to the space.

"All the team members are from the greater Snohomish area," he said.

Public art funds, like Arlington's recently created fund, help the community show they care about the people using their spaces, said Robinson.

"It creates a cooler experience for the skate park and it shows you care about the people there," he said.

"Graffiti" style murals are often seen as blight and Robinson said it was also good that local artists can approach it from a different angle and be appreciated.

"I never thought I'd be able to do art like that here," he said.

It's also good for local youth who are passionate about art.

"I just got paid for something people have told me not to do for so long," said Robinson. "It's huge for kids who are into art and want to know they can pursue that."

Many people are having trouble finding work right now and the public fund is helpful to local artists, said Robinson.

"Especially during COVID with people having a tough time finding jobs, funds like this are great," he said.

In addition to the skate park mural and Suddenly Dragons project Arlington is planning sculptures near Airport Boulevard and Gleneagle, an aeronautical-themed bench for Airport Boulevard, and a artistic tractor display for the roundabout near Kent Prairie.

"COVID did have an impact," said Lopez, as one project the city was working on with Arlington High School has been delayed.

"The teacher wants to continue to work with us next year though," she said.

Arlington's art committee is preparing for another round of proposals soon.

"The application process for the 2021 funds is now open as well," said Lopez.

"We're looking forward to 2021 and seeing the projects that will be proposed for then," she said.