Covington Arts Commission updates city on utility wraps, Karma Collective statues, murals and yarn-bombing plans

The Covington Arts Commission provided city council a progress update on public-art projects, including utility vinyl wraps, a commissioned statue program the commission has called the Karma Collective, proposals for permanent ground murals and a temporary yarn-bombing installation.

Paloma, chair of the Arts Commission, said the commission completed phase 4 of its utility-wrap project this year and "probably installed six new utility wraps" in locations the commission cited as Founders Park and near Red Canoe by Covington Church. She said the community response has been positive.

On the Karma Collective statues, commission members said city staff is drafting policy to support a lease program. City staff told the session that a formal lease program has not started because staff do not yet have a final design to present to businesses; staff said a design is expected in October and that three businesses have already expressed interest in leasing statues. Staff gave a rough price estimate for the statue itself of about $2,800 plus installation and painting costs.

The commission described the Karma Collective as moving into final design with manufacturing expected to begin next month if schedules hold. Commissioners said they were also reviewing the program name for marketing; the commission is considering an alternate trade or sales name for outreach materials.

Murals and temporary installations: the commission outlined early plans for permanent ground murals, saying the first phase would focus on Jenkins Creek Park and comparing permanence to the city’s existing skate-park art. The commission also presented a plan for temporary yarn-bombing — crocheted or knitted wraps around public fixtures — and said the yarn-bombing installations would be temporary (about three months) with an intent to repurpose donated yarn panels into hats or blankets for shelters after removal.

The commission said it will begin rotating public-art calls for weather-resistant works on city platforms, and that phase 5 of the utility-wrap program will solicit new artist calls covering remaining traffic-signal boxes. Commissioners also said they are investigating non-traffic-signal utility-box opportunities across the city but noted that many boxes are owned by outside agencies or utilities (the transcript referenced WSDOT and "Excel") and will require further coordination.

Why it matters: the projects expand visible public art across Covington and include both permanent and temporary installations, a lease-funded statue program intended to involve local businesses, and a plan to recycle temporary materials for charitable use.

Next steps identified in the session included finalizing Karma Collective designs and policy, starting manufacturing if schedules allow, issuing artist calls for the remaining signal-box wraps, and confirming ownership and permitting needs for non-city utility boxes before pursuing artwork there.