Tulsa city leaders have recommended 10 mural sites along Route 66 to be painted ahead of the Mother Road’s centennial celebration next year.
Ashanti Chaplin, the city’s director of public art and community partnerships, said the majority of the recommended locations are in east Tulsa because the area lacks public art and Route 66 investment.
The Route 66 Commission already approved each of the mural site recommendations during its November meeting. The Tulsa Arts Commission unanimously endorsed those recommendations on Monday. The locations include:
- I-244 underpass at East Admiral Place at an estimated cost of about $40,000.
- I-44 underpass at East 11th Street at an estimated cost of about $40,000.
- I-75 retaining wall at 1010 E. 2nd St at an estimated cost of about $9,990.
- Lindbergh Elementary School gray wall, 931 S. 89th E. Ave., at an estimated cost of about $3,510.
- Three eastbound and three westbound bridge walls along Route 66. (Addresses were not listed) The six murals are estimated to cost about $5,800.
Additionally, Chaplin said several schools along Route 66 will be given the opportunity to design traffic control boxes on campuses using vinyl graphics.
“I’m hoping to get a lot of the schools in on it. It’ll be something that could be revisited over the years, because it’s going to be using that vinyl,” she said.
This comes as officials have revealed plans to place the contentious “Cry Baby Cry” statue alongside a Route 66-themed restaurant on private property in east Tulsa.
“The Route 66 Commission is trying to get more funding to possibly do one or two more murals, but we don’t have a [request for proposal] out for this at the moment,” Chaplin said at the Tulsa Arts Commission meeting Monday. “This is just figuring out the locations, so nothing has been set in stone.”
Since a request for proposals hasn’t been released, no art or artists have been selected.
After the proposal process for the $250,000 “Cry Baby Cry” statue, some residents fear the city’s artist selection process for these murals could be problematic.
Sherry Springer, a 56-year-old who has lived in Tulsa nearly her entire life, said she hopes the city will learn from its mistakes and allow residents to have a larger say on what art pieces are selected for the mural sites.
“I didn’t care for how they handled the process of the Cry Baby statue,” Springer said. “I felt maybe they should have let the citizens pick what it would (look) like.”
Springer floated having each prospective artist submit a rendering of their mural for Tulsans to choose from.
“Whoever you’re deciding between, let them render something and let us choose from what it is you’re trying to do,” Springer said. “Ultimately, it’s our city and we want the best.”
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