Oviedo makes call to artists for new arts district logo

Oviedo is making a call to artists.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis signing House Bill 4031, establishing the creation of the Oviedo Arts and Entertainment District at Oviedo on the Park, Oviedo City Council adopted a resolution to approve asking all artists 18 years of age and older to submit a logo for the district at its June 16 meeting.

If finalized by the city, which is expected, the Arts and Entertainment District would allow for an open alcohol container area during specific events at Oviedo on the Park. Despite being passed by Florida’s legislature and signed by the governor, the ordinance will still need to go through two local public hearings prior to it officially being implemented.

“The Logo is to be placed on a white plastic reusable beverage cup containing 16 ounces with no handle, commonly known as a stadium cup. The logo will identify the approved cups to be used as an open container within the Oviedo on the Park area. The logo shall reflect the values and culture of Oviedo’s community and downtown landscape, the spirit of community gathering and the vibrancy of Oviedo on the Park,” according to the city’s call to artists. 

The city’s guidelines for the logo for artists from around the country include:

• A 1:1 or 3:2 vertical ratio
• It should be submitted in .svg, .png or .pdf formats, with the final selected version being sent in vector format (.eps or .svg)
• Be sent in both full color and single color options
• Include the name Oviedo Arts and Entertainment District

The logo submissions will be open for 30 days, and Oviedo’s Public Arts Board recommended that the artist whose logo is selected would receive $1,000 as the purchase price by the city.

While the district, with defined borders, would allow the consumption of alcoholic beverages on city streets, sidewalks, alleys, parks, city-owned buildings and other public property owned or controlled by the city during specified events in the specially designed cups with the logo, business establishments at Oviedo on the Park will not be required to participate in it.

How to submit a logo for Oviedo’s Arts and Entertainment District (via Oviedo’s call to artists)

Randy Perry, owner of  The Crazy Cork Wine Bar at Oviedo on the Park, has voiced his concerns with the district.

“We buy crystal glasses, so I don’t want to put good wine in a plastic cup, No. 1,” Randy Perry, owner of The Crazy Cork Wine Bar at Oviedo on the Park, said. “No. 2, I don’t want to buy these cups because I don’t see how they would benefit me. If a person comes in and buys this cup and were to take a glass of wine out, they’re leaving the premises. Where are they going with that plastic cup? Are they going to the next bar?

“That could cause multiple problems for me, especially if they came [from another establishment] with a spirits cocktail and came into my bar where I don’t have a liquor license to serve spirits, and I could lose my license if an agent from the state showed up and said, ‘Well, you’ve got alcohol in here,’” he said. 

At the June 16 meeting, Mayor Megan Sladek asked if it would be possible to change the name of the district to something more representative of the area.

“It is an incredible misnomer to call it an arts and entertainment district,” she said. “People keep saying, ‘Oh, what are we going to do with culture? Are we adding a museum and different things?’

“Really, it is an open container drinking district,” she said. 

Assistant City Manager Patrick Kelly said that while he cannot say for certain whether the city must call it the Arts and Entertainment District, that is what it is known as to the state through the law signed by DeSantis for licensing purposes and because it will be a host to festivals.

“I wasn’t really in favor of the district to start with, but I don’t care what they call it,” Council member Keith Britton said. “If the governor signed it and named it that, that’s fine with me.”

Crowdsourcing a road name

The connector road currently under construction between North Central Avenue and North County Road 426, south of Solary Park in Oviedo needs a name, and the city wants residents’ help.

At the June 16 meeting, City Manager Bryan Cobb asked Council for approval to seek public input through the city’s public information office for a name for the road, which Sladek agreed to.

“I like a good crowdsourcing of a name,” she said. 

The city created a form that residents can fill out with their choices. The form will be published on social media when it is ready, Oviedo Communications Manager Lisa McDonald said. 

McDonald said they hope to have a decision on the name by the “end of summer or fall.”

While most roads going east and west in Oviedo,such as this one, are listed as streets, Cobb said the city would be open to it being a “trail, a way, a lane.” 

Cobb said he would like to avoid it being an avenue, as most north and south roads in Oviedo are avenues. The road cannot be a court or boulevard, because it will not qualify as either of those, McDonald said. 

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