OLDS – Local residents are fine with having supergraphics such as murals in the community according to the results of a survey undertaken Aug. 5 - Sept. 15.
“Public art is the key to celebrating community and beautifying our town,” one respondent wrote.
“Murals and other artwork serve only to beautify the town. Who could ever be against this,” another wrote.
But there are some caveats.
For example, a strong majority (74 per cent) of respondents believe those wishing to create or install murals should have to apply for permission to do so.
There was support for some form of public art advisory committee to serve as a decision-making body regarding such applications.
Forty-four per cent of respondents said those who commission a mural should be responsible for maintaining it once it’s completed.
Thirty-one per cent said owners of the property on which the mural is located should be responsible for it.
“We just wanted to note from a municipal perspective, exterior property maintenance is the legal responsibility of the owner and title,” community facilitator Jennifer Lutz said as she presented the survey results during town council’s Oct. 5 policies and priorities meeting.
“So if that’s going to be different, there’s got to be a civil agreement; put down on a contract to make that look any different,” she added.
Forty-two per cent of survey respondents did not support any tax dollars going toward a mural program.
Lutz said the plan now is to draft some land use amendments which would be brought back for discussion during a future policies and priorities meeting.
The feedback could also be used to refine the town’s public art policy as well as inform changes to the community’s Uptowne Olds Area Redevelopment
Plan.
A total of 456 surveys were collected, most of which were done online.
Unlike a similar survey undertaken regarding animals in town, this survey did not include telephone calls.
Lutz said in lieu of phone calls, town staff met with members of the Uptowne Olds committee.
“We thought they were the most engaged stakeholder that we wanted to reach out to so the heritage advisor (Michelle Jorgensen), (community services) director (Doug) Wagstaff and myself met with them very early in the process, just to get some feedback and make sure we were on the mark,” Lutz said.
The total cost of the survey was pegged at $427.55.
Several councillors stressed that council has no objection to the installation of murals in town.
They just want to ensure that there are clear rules in place on how to go about creating murals in town and who is responsible for their upkeep.
“I would like to make that very clear to our citizens that we’re not against the murals. We’re not against artwork,” Coun. Mary Anne Overwater said.
“We just need to have some guidelines so that we know how to handle it when who looks after it, who’s going to pay for the upkeep of it?
“Rules like that need to be in place so that we’re not doing it as we go along. We have to have a format,” she added.
Coun. Wanda Blatz agreed.
“We were looking for definite policies and procedures in order to make sure that these can be maintained properly and that our bylaw has some type of authority when it does become unsightly,” she said.
Blatz cited the example of graffiti sprayed in on the skatepark recently.
“Had that gone to some of our murals Uptowne, that would have been horrible to deface those murals,” Blatz said.
“Again then, we just need to understand who is responsible for cleaning those up and repairing them. And that’s what we as council are trying to do.
“We are not trying to inhibit anyone who has any type of art capability in the town of Olds.
“I believe if anything, our council, due to our administration, has moved leaps and bounds ahead of many other communities in order to ensure that we have a very nice community to come and visit,” she added.
