Portland earns art grant

Another mural will be created in Portland.

Indiana Destination Development Corporation on Tuesday announced more than $414,000 in grants for IN Indiana Public Art Activation projects including $10,000 for the City of Portland for a mural on the north side of Community Resource Center.

The grant application was a partnership between the city, Portland Main Street Connect and Arts Place, with former Portland resident Zach Medler of Lafayette selected as the artist.

“I’m just really grateful that Arts Place alerted Main Street to the opportunity and then said, ‘Let us join forces and do work together,” said Portland Main Street Connect’s Reda Theurer-Miller, who also thanked Arts Place executive director Carolyn Carducci for writing the grant application. “Obviously it’s really exciting to have it all come together and work as a partnership and make it happen.”

The three local partners put together the grant request for a mural on the Community Resource Center wall facing Brick Alley.

The grant requires that the mural be representative of the community, be historically relevant and include IN Indiana branding. Beyond those requirements, the city, Portland Main Street Connect and Arts Place left the opportunity for ideas wide open.

A committee selected Medler as the artist last month and submitted his design as part of the grant application.

Theurer-Miller said the next step following Tuesday’s grant award announcement will be to meet with the artist, who has yet to be announced publicly, in order to meet the state’s timeline. The mural must be complete by October.

The new mural on the Community Resource Center building would join several already existing in Portland, including the Elwood Haynes mural on the north side of the Eagles Lodge, the Portland Rockets mural on the south side of The Ritz Theatre and Portland Rotary Club’s mural on the south side of J&P Plating. Medler created the rotary club mural, which features a blooming crabapple tree with a red-winged blackbird nestled in its branches.

Medler, who was born in Geneva and grew up in Nobleville, worked at Arts Place in Portland after earning his master’s degree in ceramics from Purdue University in 2004. He has completed more than 20 mural projects, including the Limberlost Swamp mural on the west side of Geneva Town Hall.

The IN Indiana Public Art Activation Grant follows a grant program last year that saw more than 40 murals and sculptures created around the state. It’s part of an effort to “create IN Indiana artwork and signage in highly visible locations throughout the state.”

State criteria for the grant indicated that projects would be selected based on quality of design, “with preference given to locations in high-view areas that create potential for photo opportunities. IDDC intends to include a diverse group of locations and projects, including urban, suburban and rural settings, large and small communities, and locations in different regions of the state.”

Among the 33 IN Indiana Public Art Activation Grants that were awarding, funding also went to Muncie Arts & Culture Council, Historic Warren Main Street and the City of Kokomo. Also awarded Tuesday were five IN Indiana Placemaking Grants of up to $25,000 for signs and placemaking efforts.

"It is wonderful to see each corner of the Hoosier state driven and motivated to create spaces and works of art that will help tell Indiana's story," said Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch in a press release. "As each individual project is completed, Indiana's character and culture will be put on display for Hoosiers and visitors to appreciate."