Graffiti News

Local preference becomes part of the selection process

Longmont City Council has required a local preference for the planned mural at the 1st & Main transit station parking garage in Longmont, Colorado. According to Boulder Daily Camera’s October 21, 2026, report, council members subsequently approved the amended funding resolution unanimously, 7-0. The project has a $200,000 mural budget.

Councilmember Jake Marsing initially proposed favoring a Longmont resident or a Colorado-based artist. Councilmember Matthew Popkin suggested broader wording that would leave implementation to the city’s Art in Public Places program, known as AIPP. Marsing accepted that change. Applications will not be restricted to local artists, and the requirement does not promise that a local artist will receive the commission.

Mayor Susie Hidalgo-Fahring and Councilmember Diane Crist opposed adding the requirement. Their opposition to that condition should be distinguished from the unanimous vote on the amended resolution that followed. The mural will still pass through AIPP’s selection process.

An earlier garage commission prompted the debate

The new requirement follows criticism of a separate $85,000 mural commission for the garage beside Hotel Longmont, across from the library and civic center. That project covered more than 5,000 square feet across 12 building faces. It is not the new transit station commission.

Longmont muralist Gamma Acosta criticized the selection of an artist from outside Colorado in a social media video on May 13, 2026. Artist and Obra Arts owner Joyanna Rose Gittings also wrote a letter questioning the process, signed by nine artists and community members.

The city defended its initial review method as a way to assess artistic merit: applicants’ names and locations were hidden. Officials said 182 artists applied, and reviewers considered the first 100 qualified applicants. That group included 11 Longmont artists and 33 Colorado artists overall. Those figures describe participation in the earlier selection, not applications for the transit station wall.

Training proposals leave practical questions open

A mentorship could give local artists experience on a large installation, but its structure and payment arrangements remain undecided. AIPP administrator Angela Brill presented the possibility, appearing to suggest a Longmont artist as the mentee and a non-local artist as mentor. Popkin also suggested considering apprenticeships and collaborative teams.

Brill said work on this scale requires knowledge of lift equipment, materials and contracting. City Manager Harold Dominguez warned that work at height requires suitable insurance and experience, which he said Longmont artists might lack. Brill did not provide a count of local artists already qualified to complete the commission independently.

Councilmember Crystal Prieto emphasized the link between opportunity and experience and asked staff to involve local artists before shaping the process. Hidalgo-Fahring, meanwhile, said AIPP commissioners had already considered the earlier controversy and cautioned that excessive restrictions could hamper their work. For mural followers, the debate concerns both who receives a major commission and how artists acquire the experience needed to compete for one.

The planned wall would mark an entrance to downtown

The mural is intended for approximately 5,000 square feet on the garage’s south-facing wall, forming a gateway into downtown Longmont. Its location makes the project relevant to people who encounter public art while moving through the city, although the report does not give a completion date or say when a finished mural could be visited.

The resolution reserves money within the transit station project instead of sending it to the general Art in Public Places fund. Staff said the $200,000 allocation exceeds the roughly $110,000 that would otherwise result from the city’s 1% public art requirement after restricted funding sources are excluded.

Brill said the budget should support a mural lasting 20 years, with some preparation included in construction. That is an assessment of the planned work, rather than a report on an existing artwork’s condition. If an artist from outside Colorado is selected, travel and lodging will come from the same $200,000. A mentorship’s share of that money remains unresolved.

The city plans to gather community views on themes before inviting artist applications. For anyone following the project, that consultation and the eventual selection are the next stages to watch. Keep the proposed 1st & Main wall separate from the earlier Hotel Longmont garage mural when planning a visit. Explore public art geographically with the Wallscape map.

Source: Boulder Daily Camera