Art as policy: murals, bike racks, and Art for All

2004 - 2020

Before policy, projects: Fort Wayne's public art began as events. In 2004 the Mastodons on Parade put temporary painted mastodon sculptures downtown, a success the university's next project cited as its precedent. That project, IPFW's Sculpture with Purpose, was announced on 23 May 2012 as the flagship of the university's 50th anniversary: 50 sculptural bike racks by local and national artists, each holding at least one bicycle by U-lock, sponsored across the community and unveiled in May 2014, with schoolchildren given recycled bikes to turn into art bikes for the racks. It was, in its project manager Ruth Stone's framing, an attempt to make public art permanent where the mastodons had been temporary. The individual works and artists stand in ARTISTS and ARTS; the cultural line is the turn from parade to permanence.

The alleys: Downtown's mural era began, in Input Fort Wayne's account, in 2014, when the Philadelphia artist Yis Goodwin, called Nosego, was commissioned to paint a mythical creature in the alley beside 816 Pint and Slice. Artist Alexandra Hall was brought into the movement in 2016 when the Downtown Improvement District bought one of her collaborations for an alleyway, and Art This Way grew from that work: Hall and the Business Journal date its official launch to 2016, while Input Fort Wayne records that in 2017 the project became an official public art program, first called the Alleyway Activation Mural Project, fundraising and commissioning murals on behalf of downtown property owners across two blocks of alleyways between Wayne Street and Washington Boulevard. The bracket [launched 2016; an official program from 2017] is printed as the sources divide. Three small murals went up the first year and four larger ones in 2018, funded by donations, sponsorships, grants and the annual Art Crawl fundraiser held each September since 2017, building toward the collection CANVAS Arts counted in 2023 at nearly 150 pieces of public art across the city, some 30 of them installed with Art This Way's help.

The ordinance: On 28 March 2018 Mayor Thomas C. Henry and the Fort Wayne City Council established the Fort Wayne Public Art Program and its 13-member volunteer Public Art Commission, by the ordinance recorded as R-18-03-08 in the council's committee session of 20 March 2018, as a public-private partnership between the City and Arts United. On 29 January 2020 the Commission unveiled Art for All, the city's public art master plan, the product of a year-long planning process, setting out nine possible public art projects for the following decade. With the ordinance and the plan, the joins this section has traced all close: the federation of 1955 became, 63 years on, the city's partner in writing public art into law and plan, and culture in Fort Wayne completed its passage from volunteer pastime to stated public policy.

Sources:

1. AroundFortWayne, IPFW Sculpture with Purpose to be flagship of 50th anniversary celebration (23 May 2012: the announcement; 50 sculptural bike racks; the juried process; the Mastodons on Parade of 2004 as temporary precedent; Lincoln Financial Group as title sponsor).
2. Visit Indiana, IPFW Sculpture with Purpose adds life and fun to downtown Fort Wayne (17 July 2014: the May 2014 unveiling of the 50 racks; the school art bikes).
3. Input Fort Wayne, Art This Way: How street art is taking over downtown Fort Wayne (13 February 2019: the 2014 Nosego mural at 816 Pint and Slice; Hall brought in during 2016; an official public art program in 2017 as the Alleyway Activation Mural Project; three murals the first year, four larger in 2018; 15 property owners participating).
4. Business Journal of Fort Wayne, Empowering Local Artists: Alexandra Hall's Commitment (Art This Way officially launched in 2016; the Art Crawl held every September since 2017).
5. CANVAS Arts / NPR, How an Indiana city's investment in public art mirrors its overall turnaround (21 February 2023: Art This Way started in 2016; nearly 150 pieces of public art citywide; about 30 large-scale pieces installed with the program's help).
6. City of Fort Wayne, Planning and Policy (on 28 March 2018 Mayor Thomas C. Henry and the City Council established the Fort Wayne Public Art Program; the 13-member Public Art Commission).
7. Fort Wayne Common Council committee session agenda, 20 March 2018 (R-18-03-08, an ordinance establishing the City of Fort Wayne Public Art Program including the Public Art Commission).
8. AroundFortWayne, Art For All Master Plan unveiled (29 January 2020: the plan revealed after a year-long process; nine possible projects over the next decade).