Attend the February 1st Q&A Session on Proposed Milwaukie Mural Arts Program

Hoping to enliven Milwaukie’s commercial and industrial zones, the Milwaukie Arts Committee (known as “artMOB”) received approval from City Council this fall to start outreach to the community regarding a mural program in Milwaukie. As part of this effort, artMOB has invited art coordinators from neighboring jurisdictions, including Beaverton, Hillsboro, Clackamas County and Portland, to attend and share their respective experiences with murals. Attend “Making a Scene: A Mural Q & A Session” to ask questions, hear about best practices, and share your thoughts on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 from 6:00-7:30pm at Milwaukie City Hall—10722 SE Main St. Refreshments will be provided.

While there are currently several murals in Milwaukie, these murals were installed before the City updated its sign code in 2006. Murals of such scale would not be allowed today under current regulations. In response to this, City staff needs to update the City’s code to define murals and establish an ad-hoc committee to review proposed murals based on criteria. This effort has been dubbed the “Milwaukie Mural Arts Program”—or “MMAP”.

As imagined, the MMAP initiative would:

• Provide a process for property owners in commercial and industrial zones to pursue murals on their buildings. This initiative will not provide public funding for such murals.
• Establish an ad-hoc mural review committee comprised of mural artists, Arts Committee members, neighborhood and/or business representatives near the proposed mural, and regional arts experts. Murals would be reviewed to determine if they meet criteria such as artistic merit, durability, safety, community support and context.
• Allow murals that meet established criteria to be placed on buildings within industrial and commercial zones but not in residential zones or on buildings designated as historic.
• Borrow from models already established in other jurisdictions such as Beaverton and Portland.

The draft MMAP design and code changes will be reviewed by Planning Commission and City Council this spring with the goal of adoption this summer. There will be several opportunities for the public to provide input including an online survey and public hearings. Representatives from the Arts Committee also will be attending all of the City’s neighborhood association meetings in February to gather comments from residents. For further information contact Beth Ragel, Milwaukie Community Services Program Coordinator (503) 786-7568 or ragelb@ci.milwaukie.or.us