Santa Rosa committee approves Brookwood mural by ArtStart

The Art and Public Places Committee of the City of Santa Rosa voted 4–1 to approve ArtStart’s Brookwood Mural Project, a proposal to apply painted polytab (fabric) panels and occasional painted board elements to a long corrugated steel fence on Brookwood Avenue.

The committee’s decision followed a presentation by a representative of ArtStart describing the site and materials. “It's a corrugated steel wall, on Brookwood Avenue, where the lease department parks their cars,” the presenter said, and described using a flexible fabric (polytab) painted off-site by youth participants and then adhered to the fence. The presenter said the design emphasis would be colorful, high-contrast roses — a locally recognized symbol — and that the mural would be designed to read quickly from passing cars.

Committee members and the review panel discussed the project’s merits and limits. Committee member Nathan Azadarian raised a substantive reservation about context: “My reservations are related to the questions of militarization of civic infrastructure and the extent to which public art can be called upon to, make that more palatable.” Other members and review-panel representatives — including persons from the Police Department who participated in the selection review — said they supported youth engagement and saw value in softening the fence’s visual impact. Meredith Knudson, Arts and Culture staff, and committee members said the review panel’s deliberations had been earnest and that the project was recommended for approval.

The committee noted practical constraints: the presenting artist said there was not a large installation budget and that the polytab approach allowed youth to work in a safer, supervised location rather than along a busy street. Panel members discussed design choices to break up the long fence line with varying sizes of painted roses and some raised board elements to create visual undulation along the 200–255-foot stretch described in the presentation.

The motion to approve the committee recommendation passed 4–1. The project was described as an opportunity to involve youth in production, to improve a visually unwelcoming block, and to install a durable, removable treatment rather than a painted-on solution. Committee members said final design details will be refined with the artist and staff before installation.

The committee did not set a firm installation date during the meeting; staff indicated next steps include final design drawings, site coordination with the departments that manage the fence, and contracting with the artist and ArtStart for production and installation.