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Clearwater Latino leaders urge protection of East Gateway "Mercado" identity; staff proposes local-artist preference
Summary
Residents and Latino community leaders told the Public Art and Design Advisory Board they want planned East Gateway public art and the Mercado concept to reflect local Hispanic culture. City staff said they will call for artists, ask for a preference for artists of that background and include a community representative on the selection panel.
At a Public Art and Design Advisory Board meeting, Latino community leaders urged the board to preserve the cultural identity of the East Gateway area and the planned Mercado, and city staff described how the public-art process will prioritize community representation. Eliseo Santana, a Clearwater resident who identified himself as president of the local League of United Latin American Citizens council, told the board he and members of the Hispanic community "are concerned that that that area ... was gonna become a, an essential part of our identity" and asked that planned changes not move the area away from that vision.
The request matters because public art and the Mercado design are meant to shape how residents and visitors experience the neighborhood. Christopher Hubbard, public art staff, said the office "is recommending that a local artist from that section of Clearwater be represented either as the lead project artist or brought on as an assistant in a mentorship capacity, to really reflect that community." Hubbard also said the office will include someone from that community on the artist selection panel.
Board members and visiting community representatives pressed staff on how residents and small business owners can bring proposals. Hubbard described a two-phase outreach approach: if a project has a dedicated public-art allocation, staff can hold a town-hall meeting to set scope and inform the call to artists; if not, Hubbard invited residents to bring ideas to the Public Art and Design Board or contact him directly at christopher.hubbard@myclearwater.com. He said artists' calls will be advertised on city social media, myclearwater.com and the CallForEntry (CAF9) website.
Community members at the meeting also asked about nonprofit grant opportunities and whether ARPA-funded nonprofit grants are separate from the Public Art program. Hubbard said ARPA-based grants for nonprofits are a separate, application-based bucket and would not be administered by the public-art program. He reiterated that when an artist is selected, the resulting commission contract goes before the City Council, at which time staff will explain the selection process and community input.
Next steps: staff will publish the call to artists for the East Gateway public-art work, include a community representative on the selection panel and present the selected artist contract to City Council for approval.
