Murals to be painted on traffic calming circles west of downtown Bloomington
Five traffic calming circles in a neighborhood just west of downtown Bloomington will have murals painted on them this fall.
At its regular Tuesday meeting, Bloomington’s board of public works approved the street closings required for local artist Erin Tobey to paint the murals at five intersections in the Near West Side.
The closures include the two intersections on West 6th Street, at Waldron and Oak streets, and three intersections on West 7th street, at Oak, Waldron and Pine streets.
Each closure is expected to last 3–5 days for a total of five weeks beginning on Sept. 16, 2024 through Oct. 28, 2024.
It’s the city of Bloomington that is paying for the $5,180 project, which makes it a public art installation in the right-of-way.
That contrasts with private art projects in the public right-of-way, which have to be reviewed under the city’s policy for such projects.
The city developed the policy on private art in the public right of way when a federal judge ordered it, in connection with a lawsuit that was filed in early 2022 over the city’s denial of a request to paint a street mural.
According to Holly Warren, who is Bloomington’s assistant director the arts for the economic and sustainable development department, the traffic circle mural project was started in 2021.
Warren described it as a collaboration between the Bloomington Arts Commission, the city’s economic and sustainable development department, the city’s HAND (housing and neighborhood development) department, and the Near West Side Neighborhood Association.
The call for artists was issued in July 2021. According to Warren, the original artist selected for the project had to withdraw due to health reasons. Erin Tobey was then selected to work with the neighborhood association to create designs.
According to Warren, the designs were created consistent with the master plan for public art developed by the Bloomington ars commission.
The concrete rings that make up traffic calming circles where the murals are to be painted have been primed with white paint. The tire tracks on the circles indicate that the circles seem to function as speed cushions for many drivers, as opposed to course-altering obstacles.
The designs developed for the traffic calming circles don’t appear to include “speech” as defined in the city’s policy on private art in the public right-of-way. The policy bans any “speech”.
The litigation that prompted development of the policy on private art in the public right-of-way is still pending. Both Bloomington and the plaintiff in the case filed cross motions for summary judgment in late July.
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