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Commission discusses ‘snowy’ sales, museum mural timeline and utility‑box wrap guidance
Summary
Commissioners reported ongoing sales of National Night Out 'snowie' cutouts, a tentative museum mural artist pending council approval, and plans to catalogue and set criteria for utility‑box artwork across North St. Paul.
At its Aug. 6 meeting, the North St. Paul Arts and Culture Commission reviewed three active public‑art efforts: the post‑event availability and sales of decorated "snowy" cutouts from National Night Out, a proposed mural for the history museum, and the commission’s utility‑box art program.
Commissioners said snowy cutouts remain available for purchase only at City Hall to allow staff to track pickups through city systems. Jordan Layman, the commission’s staff representative, reported that the commission ordered 200 snowies, sold 106 at the event and currently has about 94 remaining. Commissioners discussed options to sell stock at the upcoming Autumn Arts Festival and the logistical limits imposed by the city’s payment and tracking systems.
Sharon Clark Williams said the commission has tentatively selected an artist for a mural on the history museum wall, but the design had not yet been submitted to city council. Sharon said the earliest work would not begin before Aug. 20 and that final technical responsibilities and funding checks will follow the council approval process.
The commission spent a substantial portion of the meeting on utility‑box art. Laura Strang described moving a box for the Heartands project to Casey Lake Park to improve pedestrian access and create a safer photo opportunity. Commissioners proposed developing criteria that differentiate boxes in residential neighborhoods, parks and business districts and suggested forming a utility‑box subcommittee to draft those guidelines. They also agreed to ask public‑works or city staff (named in discussion as Brian and Ron) to confirm exact box dimensions and to create a master map of box locations.
On a veterans‑area wrap, Sharon said the wrapping company has the images and is waiting for appropriate weather to perform the installation; Gino was named as the selected artist. Commissioners emphasized the need to document which boxes require council approval or other resident consent before artwork is installed.
Next steps: staff will gather box dimensions and map locations, the proposed mural design will be circulated to commissioners when available, and the commission will revisit utility‑box guidelines at a future meeting.
