News

City seeks ideas for Fifth Avenue East sidewalk mural

By Bill Moss, Published: July 28, 2021

The city of Hendersonville is inviting residents to submit concepts and ideas for a sidewalk mural on Fifth Avenue East to brighten up a pedestrian link between Main Street and the resurgent Historic Seventh Avenue District.

The public art project funded by an AARP Community Challenge Grant is designed for quick action projects to help communities become more livable for people of all ages. The Friends of Downtown Hendersonville was one of 244 grantees selected from across all 50 states, Washington D.C, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This project will build a pedestrian connection between the two downtown commercial districts through creative visible sidewalk murals that will be selected and created through an engaged community process.

The city of Hendersonville has made strategic efforts to connect Seventh Avenue and Main Street, including a public-private partnership to complete the historic rehabilitation of the award-winning Grey Mill redevelopment workforce housing project on Fifth Avenue East, which serves as a key link between the districts. Additionally, the Friends of Downtown began the Hendersonville Farmers Market in 2020 on Maple Street, which can seerve as a destination at the end of the Fifth Avenue Art Route.

“We are thrilled to receive this grant from AARP to create this pedestrian focused art route,” Mayor Barbara Volk said. “This project is a creative way to engage with the community that will bring visibility to the pedestrian corridor connecting Main Street to Seventh Avenue. I’m looking forward to all of the creative ideas our community brings during this project and walking along the route when it is completed.”

The community is invited to submit proposals for the project by Aug. 10. There will be opportunities for the community to provide input and participate in the painting of the artwork. The winner(s) will be commissioned to design and produce original artwork onsite in the form of a sidewalk mural, a stipend for selected artists will be provided. There are no age restrictions or limit on the number of concepts an individual or group may submit. The top designs will be shared publicly for the community to vote online and at downtown events in August. The mural will then be completed by the artists and volunteers in a community painting day(s) in September. The proposal application can be found at downtownhendersonville.org.