Columbia officials reportedly want a permanent public art display, and one suggestion includes a mural saying “Welcome” in multiple world languages.
This, according to OakRidger.com, which did not specify whether taxpayers would have to pay for this public art.
The proposed mural “would showcase the county’s diverse citizenship, as well as tourists who visit from around the globe” and cater to people who people who do not speak English, according to the website.
Arts Council Chair Ross Jaynes did not return The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Thursday.
According to OakRidger.com, no one yet knows what the display will look like or where city officials will place it.
“An arts council Columbia Public Arts Project (CPAP) committee consisting of arts council members was formed earlier this year to figure out how, and if a public art display can be done, and what that process would entail,” according to the website.
City officials have tasked committee members with finding ideas to generate public interest in the arts, whether it’s murals, installations or other types of art, OakRidger.com reported.
The Maury County Visitors Bureau is one potential location for the permanent art display, according to the website.
Arts council member Meredith Joi Oswald, meanwhile, suggested city officials put the display in one of the city’s public parks, OakRidger.com reported.
As The Star reported this month, a few miles south of Columbia, Nashville’s public art program reportedly isn’t getting enough taxpayer money, despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars it’s already spent on public art projects, with some of that money going to artists out-of-state.
Metro Nashville officials are underfunding their art program, and, to make up for it, Metro Arts will soon receive a back payment that can be put toward new sculptures and other large-scale installations.
According to the now extinct Tennessee Watchdog, Nashville taxpayers paid $750,000 so a California artist could construct large multi-colored sticks and place them partially upright near the Music City Center downtown.
Nashville taxpayers also paid an Alabama artist $30,000 to glue several shovels, rakes, and pickaxes together along the Shelby Bottoms Greenway.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ross Jaynes” by visitcolumbiatn.com. Background Photo “Colombia Courthouse” by jdj150. CC BY 2.0.
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