The National Endowment for the Arts is awarding the City of Mentor a $10,000 grant to support the Mentor Bike Rack Art Installation Project which includes the restoration of four existing bike racks and the purchase and installation of twelve new bike racks throughout the city.
“The National Endowment for the Arts is committed to ensuring all Americans have access to the arts, whether they are in a small or large, rural or urban area,” said Arts Endowment Chairman Mary Anne Carter. “We are proud to support organizations such as City of Mentor that are providing opportunities for more people to experience and engage in the arts in their communities.”
Local artists will be commissioned by the City, in partnership with the Mentor Community Arts Commission, to apply their artistic flair to the racks. Each artist will receive a $600 stipend for their work; $100 will be provided at the start of the project, and the remaining $500 will be paid once the project is completed.
“The City of Mentor is thrilled to see this long-awaited project come to fruition,” says Ante Logarusic, Mentor Community Relations Administrator, “We are a bike-friendly and arts-friendly community, and this project was the perfect intersection of those two interests.”
The City’s Parks and Recreation department will oversee the installation of the new bike racks at the Mentor Municipal Center, Civic Center Park, Amphitheater, Mentor Civic Ice Arena, Mentor Lagoons, Edward R. Walsh Park, Springbrook Gardens Park, Eleanor B. Garfield Park, and Wildwood Cultural Center.