Brooksville Main Street and Hernando County Arts Council co-sponsors of the Mini Mural Project, invite artists to make people smile by creating an original and refreshingly optimistic art piece for the third round of their Mobile Mini Murals program. The mobile murals will be on display at two Brooksville Main Street events: Murals in the Park and the November Art Stroll.
This mini mural project, “Aims to enhance the value of downtown Brooksville, promote quality artwork, cause viewer interaction, provoke thought, entertain, and excite visitors through the work of public art.” And for this phase of the project, every mural will be custom designed to brighten the day of all who behold it.
“The theme for this set of murals is ‘Make Me Smile’ so we are looking for art that elicits positive emotion in the viewer,” said Natalie Kahler, Executive Director of Brooksville Main Street. “The idea came about through a popular piece from last time, ‘The Happy Pig’ which portrayed a smiling cartoon-ish pig. He brought joy to those who looked at him, no matter how many times they’d seen him before.”
The primary objective of the ‘Make Me Smile’ mural is to bring joy to viewers each time they see it downtown. This image could take the form of a smiling piglet, a group of children dancing, “or something punny or funny that is sure to make folks laugh,” says project guidelines.
“The highest purpose of art is to draw thought and emotion from the viewer; and with all the challenges the last two years have brought, we thought an exhibit comprised of joyous energy would be appropriate,” said Kahler.
From a technical standpoint, applying artists are required to provide a rough sketch/mock-up of what they would like to paint for the project. The artist will receive an honorarium of $10 per square foot of mural that they complete; one they will create on a canvas tarpaulin of 5’ x 15’, 6’ x 10’, or 5’ x7’. Canvases will be primed before being given to artists, who will be required to use professional-grade outdoor acrylic paint in the creation of their resulting work.
Artists will be required to set up a table or tent at the Murals in the Park event for a ‘meet and greet’. Artists may live paint or demo in their space. Artists are also able to sell artwork during this event and display promotional materials at no cost.
Brooksville Main Street agrees to tag artists on social media posts that include their artwork. When sharing the murals on our website, BMS will also link to the artist’s website, if the artist provides this information to them.
Artists are required to sign a release form to participate in the project. The tarps will not be returned to the artist and will be auctioned off to raise money for Brooksville Main Street. Brooksville Main Street reserves the right to replace the artwork at any time and for any reason.
Submission deadline for artist applications will be August 24; for more information, please visit https://www.welovebvl.org/mm-call-to-artists.
“The artist benefits from the public exposure and the stipend we provide, and the community at large benefits from a downtown filled with original, local art,” said Kahler.
