* The Renaissance Park Community Association reports that its first public art project is complete. The colorful 12 x 78-foot mural painted on the side of the Muir Omni Graphics building on West Main Street also includes six large-scale artist-designed panels placed on the front of the building.
“The artwork is on the back of a thick, clear, polycarbonate panel, making it graffiti-, chip- and scratch-proof,” said Jessica Benassi. “The panels are being mounted with special security bolts so that they cannot be removed.”
Focusing on community, diversity and representation of local artists, it was created to try to increase the walkability and overall perception of the neighborhood.
“Murals and other forms of public art are elements that can make a huge impact on the overall look and feel of a neighborhood by introducing new colors, shapes and concepts that increase the visual interest and memorability of the space,” said RPCA board member Nick Viera.
The mural features contributions from Angie Jo Goudie, Jonathan Gonzalez, Natalie England, Keith Wilson and Kreative Worx, Brenda Gentry, Shannon Slaight-Brown, Jessica Benassi, Alec DeJesus, and Connie Andrews. The nearby panels include work by Raphael Rodolphi, Doug Leunig and Eileen Leunig, Shannon Slaight-Brown, Rachel Newell, Jonathan Gonzalez and Megan Gorsuch.
A dedication and ribbon cutting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in front of the building.
* City of Peoria Neighborhood Development Specialist Steve Fairbanks announced six events for 2015: the Neighborhood Leadership Awards Banquet March 26 at the Hotel Pere Marquette; The Great American Cleanup April 25 (with one PDC dumpster each for up to 20 neighborhood associations); Saturday Morning Neighborhood Cleanups April 4 – Nov.7; Citizen Police Academy beginning June 4 (applications available May 4 on the Police Department website); National Night Out Against Crime Aug. 4 (registered neighborhood associations are eligible for reimbursement for expenses; registration will be emailed to association presidents June 1); and the Citizen Leadership Academy (with tours and presentations of and about City and County facilities) Sept. 16- Nov. 4.
* The Golden Acres Neighborhood Association’s Lynn Costa Williams reports that that group and two other neighborhood associations continue to monitor Peoria Housing Authority plans to build a site in the area (behind Westlake Shopping Center), concerned about “the future impact that it will have on area neighborhoods.”
* Lastly, Dr. Richard P. June, president of the Mossville Point Homeowner’s Association, reports that the City has finished sidewalk improvements to the entrance of that subdivision and added a new blacktop walkway from its street entrance west to Knoxville Avenue, continuing west on Wilhelm Road.