Ferndale accepting applications for public art program

FERNDALE — Downtown Ferndale is looking to add to the public art in the city.

The Ferndale Downtown Development Authority announced its Public Art Program for this year. It has begun accepting applications for public art proposals at downtownferndale.com/publicart.

DDA Engagement Manager Sommer Realy said the program has expanded to include more types of art, not just murals as was the case last year. This year, art such as sculptures, projection art, wayfinding, photography and mixed media is eligible.

“(It gives) the artists more of an opportunity for the type of work that they do,” she said. “When it was the mural program, it was very two dimensional, where this particular year and everything moving forward will be for all art media.”

The deadline for applications is midnight on Monday, July 22. The theme of the program is “Ferndale in Bloom.”

Realy said an advisory team will be looking at the art submissions and will select the final pieces. The theme “Ferndale in Bloom” aims to speak to what “everybody experiences when they are in Ferndale.”

“Whether it is our unbelievable flowers that bloom at this time of year or the individual themselves blooms and blossoms into a unique person, they’re welcome and encouraged to be who they are and continue to bloom,” she said. “Most importantly, as a DDA, our businesses are filled with entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs are constantly evolving and blooming dependent on the environment in which they have their space.”

“Downtown Ferndale has a very large public art collection as a whole,” she continued. “It’s a destination for all, and we are just looking to continue to add to it with new artists from this era.”

India Solomon participated in the program last year, where an art piece of hers was selected to be placed on the Natural Food Patch. She is part of the advisory team this year.

Solomon, owner of Fluid Spaces, said the biggest priority for her when judging the art is going to be passion.

“Obviously, experience weighs a lot in these kinds of decision-making processes, traditionally, but as the artist on the team, I know how difficult it is to even get your foot in the door or get that experience,” she said. “So I was super grateful only having a couple murals under my belt to come in last year for the Ferndale program and really receive one of the largest murals, if not the largest mural, in last year’s program. It was really an honor for me because I really do have passion for the city and I certainly believed in myself to take on something that big.”

Solomon, who graduated from Ferndale High School, said the city was a safe landing ground for her to become a young leader, buy her first house and open her first business.

“Ferndale is welcoming a lot of new residents and a lot of new vibes, which is cool, but there’s also just that core community I’ve sort of had in and around my life for most of my life, and having to see me in this light and be a presence downtown is super important,” she said.