Art in the Streets Project

The 40th & A Neighborhood Association is the first Art in the Street project. While this concept is new to the City of Lincoln, it has been around for several years in other parts of the U.S. in cities such as Portland, Oregon, Tacoma, Washington and the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.

Since this is a new concept for Lincoln, an ordinance or city law had to be enacted before a design could be painted on city property. The ordinance presented by councilman Jonathan Cook, was passed on February 1, 2010 by the City Council.

The 40th & A Neighborhood Association partnered with Randolph Elementary School and UNL's Arts in the Community class to design the mural. During the first half of the school year, each Randolph elementary school student in grades K-5 drew their interpretation of the four elements earth, wind, air and fire, on triangle shaped canvases. Then, UNL art students selected and combined the Randolph students' work into one design for the street mural.

The UNL students completed the transfer of the design by drawing the outline of the mural on the intersection and labeling what color each section was to be painted. Then on Saturday, April 24th, the neighborhood residents, of all ages, completed the gorgeous mural.

Other groups are encouraged to create their own masterpieces. Information can be found on the City of Lincoln Website by clicking here.