By Mark Woolsey

Following the brightly painted crosswalks on King Street downtown and artistically decorated fire hydrants on Atlanta Road, the Smyrna Public Art Committee is working on ways to bring more public artwork to Smyrna residents and visitors over the next few months.

 Councilman Rickey Oglesby, who chairs the publicly/privately constituted committee, says the crosswalk art was the group’s first foray into art that all comers could view. Next were the hydrants.

 “I thought fire hydrants would be more visible, “ he said.

He said there was some initial support for sidewalk art, but that was set aside.

“All those decorated sidewalks would be nice but you probably wouldn’t see them unless you were walking or riding a  bike,” is how he puts it.

The result was 14 thoughtfully designed and expertly painted hydrants along Atlanta Road stretching from Belmont to Brawner Hall. The last of them was finished in mid-June.

“They are all different and they all tell a different story,” says Carson Haynie, special projects administrator for the city. One is called “Jonquil Garden” and features the city’s signature flower. Another is labeled “Cooldown” and a third is titled “the Firefighter,” a nod to the Smyrna Fire Department, one of the participants in the project along with the art committee, city officials and staff and the city’s public arts consultant, Design Local.

“It brings art into unexpected places,’ says Haynie. “It’s  a way to make something that might be overlooked more welcoming and vibrant.”

So vibrant in fact that they’ve gotten feedback from a number of residents saying they’d like to see hydrants in their own neighborhoods given an artistic makeover, says Haynie.

Oglesby says the next step is returning to an earlier project the city undertook -wrapped and decorated utility boxes. He says when that project is done, all seven of the city’s wards will have a public display either in or just adjacent to the districts.

He says they’ve issued a call to artists to submit proposals and next month they will see them vetting specific projects.

Another facet is continuing with the high visibility painted crosswalks project.

In addition, “These are early discussions and talks with the community, but we’d like to do a public art garden.” Oglesby says, calling it a place where various types of art could be put up “temporarily, such as sculpture.

He says they’ve identified a couple of places where such a garden could be installed, including the Smyrna Village Green.

Oglesby also says some consideration is being given to an eventual art walking tour.

Private businesses have been encouraged to create murals on their own property as well.

The councilman says so far,  the cost of the artistic endeavors has been covered the city but “that’s something we’ll take a look at because that’s probably not sustainable long term.” He says that they could be looking at partnering with businesses and sponsorships as a way of defraying costs.

City officials say already private businesses have been encouraged to install murals on their property.

As for the timeline for all this Haynie, with the city of Smyrna, feels that additional public art should be on display fairly quickly.

“I think you can expect to see something later on this year, but nothing is set in stone,” she says.

“We want to act fast on this, “echoes Oglesby, the public art committee head.