Joplin mayor announces arts initiative

(From the City of Joplin)

Joplin Mayor Melodee Colbert-Kean announced today that a new City initiative to support the arts in Joplin would begin in May of 2013.

The project, entitled “Joplin Art Rocks”, allows Joplin residents (ages 16 and older) or business owners to submit their visual wall art that depicts the beauty of Joplin’s natural landscape. Mayor Kean will select several pieces to hang either in the City Council Chambers or in the Mayor’s Office for the remainder of 2013 and through mid-2014.

Individuals wishing to participate in Joplin Art Rocks Contest can send their information to mayor@joplinmo.org with JoplinArtRocks in the subject line. Applications will be accepted from March 18, 2013 through April 8, 2013. Announcement of the winners will be made during the first week of May. To submit artwork, please follow these guidelines:

1. Jpeg file only, image size no smaller than 72 dpi and no larger than 10 MB of proposed visual art

2. Description of art work including size, materials, inspiration and description of wall art.

3. Works of art submitted are limited to the natural landscape of Joplin (MO)

4. Applications should be submitted to mayor@joplinmo.org with Joplin Art Rocks in the subject line

The purpose of this competition is to correlate and complement the Art in Public Places project initiative. This project has already supported several endeavors in Joplin that afford area residents and visitors access to a wide variety of artistic endeavors at no cost. Projects include the “The Butterfly Effect: Dreams Take Flight,” that is located on the building sitting on the northwest corner of the 15th and Main Street intersection. Dedicated on September 25, 2011, Dave Loewenstein worked as the lead muralist, incorporating various visions and ideas that were part of the May 22, 2011 Joplin tornado. Another mural, Route 66, Joplin, Missouri, by Anthony Benton Gude was dedicated in 2010 and hangs in City Hall. Gude is the grandson of Thomas Hart Benton, the notorious muralist who painted the Joplin Centennial mural, “Joplin at the Turn of the Century” that was gifted to the City. It also hangs in the main lobby of Joplin City Hall, 602 South Main Street.

Other public art projects are displayed at Missouri Welcome Center with the Matt Dehaemers mural, Detours, as well as other projects at Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center and the Joplin Museum Complex.

For more information please visit the Joplin Art Rocks Competition category on the City of Joplin website at www.joplinmo.org/artrocks .