Oviedo welcomes new art to enhance the city

Are you looking for chicken art? Thirty Hagerty High School Students currently have their chicken-themed artwork on display and for sale in the Oviedo City Council Chambers. 

This is one of four art-related projects that are moving forward in the city including: 

•  “Wings of Joy,” a sculpture that has been in the making for four years and will include four pairs of butterfly wings in Solary Park that are currently being fabricated in Canada. 
• Oviedo’s 100th anniversary mural in Center Lake Park, where a local artist will paint a piece with the theme Oviedo past, present and future.
• A sculpture on Oviedo Boulevard, that follows the theme of flora and fauna, that’s local to the Oviedo area. 

---

Art is vital for a city’s community, Oviedo’s Development Services Manager Teresa Correa said, and is “food for the soul.” Oviedo’s Public Arts Board encourages new art, she said, as it is a way to create a more interesting city environment. 

Anna Thoma, a member of Oviedo’s Public Arts Board, said that public art encourages people to enjoy their public spaces and walk outside, which she said leads to more engagement with local businesses. 

“It helps a community realize its identity,” Thoma said.

Art can also help Oviedo maintain its small-town roots and retain strong connectivity in the community, said Lisa McCoy, another member of the Public Arts Board. She said art provides a positive connection to the community. 

“I just think art truly is for everyone,” McCoy said. “It doesn’t judge, it’s all for your interpretation and there’s no bias.” 

The art installation “Wings of Joy,” a sculpture destined for Solary Park by local artist Diane Boswell, has been in the works since 2022. The structures for that project are expected to be sent to the city in one or two months, Correa said. Boswell is still finalizing the color saturation of the panels, and the board won’t have an exact timeline of when the installation will begin. 

“This is the largest project that we’ve had so far,” Correa said. “It’s taking a while to really get out of the ground because of the complexity.”

Once the sculptures are sent, they will begin the installation process, which should take about two weeks. The project’s budget is $130,200, Correa said. They will have an unveiling when the project’s complete.

On April 15 the Public Arts Board will rate the eight applications they received from local artists for the sculpture at the intersection of Oviedo Boulevard and Center Lake Lane.

“We wanted to put in a sculpture to value and represent the environment in Oviedo,” Correa said. 

This project’s budget is $35,000, with $25,000 for the design, $5,000 for the installation, up to $3,000 for the lighting and a plaque for up to $2,000, Correa said. 

The application window for artists just closed for Oviedo’s 100th anniversary mural. The initial call to artists had to be recalled because some artists submitted pieces that used some level of artificial intelligence. They opened a second call to artists with new requirements that submissions must not be AI-generated. There were 15 applications.

“I’m hoping that it really is representative of where we came from and where we are, and how we grow, and what the future holds,” McCoy said.

Community groups expressed their distaste for the use of AI in the mural. 

“AI art should never be used,” Daisy Bun wrote. “Artists are plentiful.”

“Art is work. Work should not be expected for free,” Jessica Stanley wrote. “Think of all the wasted working hours down the drain that this type of art call pulls from the local art scene/economy.”

The board is gathering the information, Correa said, and will rate the applications on April 15. The chosen artist will receive $3,000 and up to $4,000 to cover the materials and equipment used.

This is the second year for Art in the Chambers, which will host a collection of paintings by 30 Hagerty High School Students that all have a chicken theme. 

“They’re representative of our community, the youth,” McCoy said. 

The exhibition is free at the City Council Chambers and available to the public now through July 6. According to the city, some of the paintings will be for sale, with 25% of the sale donated to the Public Art Fund, which helps the Public Arts Board’s future art plans in the city. 

Public art will invoke different emotions in people, Thoma said, but the purpose of it is to be engaging. The ability to bring art to a public space is a positive thing and brings a sense of optimism, which she said is hard to find these days.

“It’s a huge addition to a public space, and we want to invest in public space,” Correa said. “I think it’s taking us to this next level.”