An independent federal agency will provide the Town of Normal with grant funding to support the design and installation of a mural in the forthcoming Uptown Connector/Underpass tunnel.
The National Endowment of the Arts has awarded Normal $50,000 in funding, according to a news release Monday. The funding includes a stipend to be paid to a local artist interested in developing their mural skills.
“This grant enhances the mural project beyond art, helping fund meaningful public engagement and education opportunities,” Cultural Arts Department Director Beth Whisman said in a statement. “Through a community-led process, the project will enhance this space with authentic collaboration and representation from people across the area. We hope its success will influence and inspire more public art projects and partnerships."
The mural will be created using polytab vinyl mural cloth, a durable material recommended by the McLean County Arts Center as a best practice for outdoor murals, the release said. That material will allow for the painting to to be taken offsite if needed.
The Uptown Connector/Underpass is a long-awaited, $29.9 million project aimed at creating pedestrian, bicycle and Amtrak passenger access beneath the railroad tracks. Town officials are currently in the process of "finalizing agreements with stakeholders regarding utilities," the release said.
Once those agreements are finalized, the project will go out to bid — and, when complete, the mural will be installed in the tunnel.
The Underpass/Connector mural is one of two projects the town's Public Art Working Group designated in August 2023. [At that time, Whisman said the town was applying for $100,000 in NEA grant funding].
The 23-member group appointed by Mayor Chris Koos laid out plans to increase public art access in the town, including the mural and a sculpture garden in One Normal Plaza that will surround the existing Circle of Friends sculpture honoring the former Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School [ISSCS].
The site was chosen, in part, for its historical significance and proximity to a new roadside attraction built off Route 66.
Lauren Warnecke contributed reporting.
