The City of Cuyahoga Falls is moving forward with its Public Art Master Plan this week, offering a “Cuyahoga Falls Public Art Survey” to gauge community interest in public art—that is, art that is available in public spaces, such as murals, sculptures, lights, etc.
According to the survey itself, the Public Art Master Plan’s purpose is to “establish a vision for public art – what role we want public art to play in Cuyahoga Falls – and provide a roadmap for the City to support projects that achieve that vision.” The survey allows residents to give their opinions “about what public art can accomplish for the community and what the best opportunities for new projects might be.”
The Falls Free Press previously reported on the February 27th public meeting to hear commentary from those in the community about the creation of a public art master plan, as well as the selection of public art consultant Todd Bressi and the Via Partnership public art consulting group to aid the process. The Public Art Survey is one aspect of the community outreach phase of the plan’s creation.
According to Bressi, “The overall goals of this plan are to present a vision as to why public art is important to Cuyahoga Falls, identify opportunities for projects, and recommend the steps needed to get there.”
As to whether there might be specific projects already in mind, Bressi said “at the end of the process, there may indeed be recommendations for particular projects, as well as structures for managing proposals,” but he stressed that he does not “come into a planning process with any specific ideas in mind.”
Indeed, Mayor Don Walters noted that the goal of the plan is “to have framework for guidance moving forward.”
Bressi described his approach to creating public art plans by saying they should “build on the energy and resources of each particular city.” In Cuyahoga Falls, he said, “there is lots of community energy around the arts. People who live and work in the city also have a deep connection to it. Those are important strengths to build on.” Additionally, he is “interested in how public art in Cuyahoga Falls can reflect the city’s own particular aspirations, but also be part of the Cuyahoga Valley cultural corridor, from Akron to Cleveland, where [there] is already a lot of overlap in terms of where people live, work and go for cultural events.”
Along these lines, the Public Art Survey empowers residents to share their “views on public art, where public art would have an impact in the city, and how public art can contribute to a sense of community, pride and engagement.”
The 10-minute Public Art Survey is available for residents to complete by April 26th at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CuyahogaFallsPublicArt.
