Grand Forks' University Park Neighborhoods receives grant from ND Council on the Arts for public art projects

Meghan Arbegast, Grand Forks Herald
·3 min read

Jul. 2—GRAND FORKS — In addition to receiving a Community Challenge grant from AARP in the amount of $14,000, the University Park Neighborhoods is also the recipient of a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts.

The $4,000 Community Access grant will help support public art projects in north Grand Forks.

The UPN is a group of UND grad students and residents who discuss ways to improve the University Avenue Corridor and build community in that neighborhood.

The organization is currently working together with the Grand Forks School District on a mural at Valley Middle School, which is still in the planning stages. According to a press release, the mural project will include collaborations between residents in the surrounding neighborhoods, students at Valley Middle School, members of the Grand Forks School District administration and staff, including Jillian Westrum, who works as an art teacher at Valley Middle School.

The City Council

recently approved changing city code

to allow murals on public and private schools as well as places of worship in residential neighborhoods.

The ND Council on the Arts grant is in addition to a Knight Foundation donor-advised fund award to support the mural, subject to approval by the Grand Forks Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council.

A mural at Winship Elementary School was also mentioned in a press release sent out by the UPN.

"This project will focus on establishing four outdoor works of art in the form of murals. We are working with the Grand Forks School District to create murals on Valley Middle School and Winship Elementary School," said Renée Cardarelle, a UND Visiting Professor and academic advisor for the student-led component of the project, in a press release. "The school district will provide an art instructor to work with students, who will drive the theme and be involved in the implementation of the artwork. Additional murals will be on local businesses, schools or houses of worship that collaborate with UPN residents on the project."

UPN residents Danielle Masursky, Peggy Lucke, and Grant McMillan will serve on the advisory board for the project.

"It's exciting to see more funding allocated to support public art in our neighborhood, especially since it is free to taxpayers, and I look forward to these forthcoming projects," McMillan said in the press release.

In addition to the murals, the UPN is collaborating with the city to plan a fire hydrant painting contest. Criteria on how the hydrants can be painted and an application process will be overseen by the city. The number of hydrants that are painted in the neighborhood depends on community involvement.

According to the press release, the UPN is also fundraising to match the grant funds allocated to the art projects. Businesses can reach out to the organization at universityavenuegf@gmail.com to sponsor the cost of one of the murals.

Individual donors are can make a contribution to UPN through the Community Foundation online. Mailed contributions can be payable to the Community Foundation with University Park Neighborhoods Fund noted on the memo line. Donations are tax-deductible.