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The City of Norman is calling out artists to paint an inside hallway of its Development Center.

The contract is worth $15,000 to paint a 9-foot-by-55-foot mural.

The Development Center, which previously housed the Norman Central Library before it was moved north of Andrew’s Park, now houses different municipal entities, according to Erinn Gavaghan, executive director of the Norman Arts Council.

“This is a mural that the NAC and the city have collaborated on,” Gavaghan said.

As part of the renovation, she said the city built a long white hallway which leads to a reception desk, and that locals have been confused because they don’t feel like they are in the right place.

“The city wanted to make sure that the public understood that this is a space for them,” she said. “When you enter the building, you have to go down this 60-foot-long white clinical-looking hallway, and you may ask yourself whether you are even supposed to be there.”

To make the hallway more welcoming, the city decided to commission a mural on one side, and it will commission rotating framed works of art on the other side of the hallway, which will be announced at a later date.

“When people walk through the door, we want them to feel welcomed by the mural, then they’ll understand that they are supposed to be there, and it is the right place,” she said.

She said artists must be from Oklahoma, and preference will be given to Norman and Native American artists, and at $15,000 for the nearly 500 square feet, she said the ticket is competitive with the standard rate of mural artists in the state.

“The nice thing about it is that being an interior space the artists won’t require scaffolding. It has air conditioning inside, so it will be a comfortable project all-around,” she said.

The recently renovated building is equipped with meeting space and new technology. It holds different city boards and commissions, as well as Parks and Recreation, Utilities, and Public Works departments.

“The building will hold entities that have to do with the physical development of Norman,” Gavaghan said.

The city has also earmarked $150,000 to jumpstart a mural program in Norman. Gavaghan said the arts council is working on a rotating mural exhibit at the Gray Street Parking Lot, 219 E. Gray St.

“One of the things that we’re going to do with those funds is do a rotating mural program,” she said. “The installation is temporary, so the murals will only be up for about a year, and then they’ll be painted over and new murals will go up in their place.”

She said the rotating murals will go on the alley side of Gray Street Parking lot, and that the first mural should go up by next spring.

Matt Peacock of Ward 8 said art is an important element that reflects the culture of a city.

“Murals can promote a sense of civic pride, celebrate history and culture, raise community visibility and help activate a successful place. Murals are a low-impact way to bring life to any space, and can oftentimes take on a life of their own,” he said.

He said VisitNorman sells merchandise with the downtown Financial Center mural on it because the mural has become so ingrained with Norman’s identity.

“That it is now a marketable part of this city. This is the power and effect of murals,” he said.

For information, visit https://normanarts.org/.

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