Public Art Project 2020

I was going to do a quick write up of this recent mural project but then I thought about it and decided to give it a bit more background. More than you probably need, so just scroll through the pictures if you aren’t interested. I promise I won’t be offended.

Each year I apply for a few grants from my local arts council. I live in one of the poorest counties in New York State and much of the work I make is expensive stuff for people who live far away. To make art more accessible to my local community I have been doing public art projects and teaching classes that funded by grants so people can participate for free. It’s a ton of work to get an application together, carry the project out, and then write a final report. Learning from my mistakes is a slow process as sometimes I’m writing grants for the next year before I’ve even been paid to carry out the current year’s project. To me though, being able to offer accessible arts programing makes it worth it.

In 2019 a local organization approached me about doing a mural in a building that is publicly owned but utilized for their program. The public art grant requires that the location of the art is publicly owned so it worked for me. They were incredibly enthusiastic when I said I would get their mural grant funded as they didn’t have any money to pay me for my work. As the deadline drew near though they got slower answering my emails and were evasive about getting me the documents I needed. I submitted the application anyway and then when I tried to follow up to get the final missing documents they backed out saying, “maybe some other time.” This meant I would miss out on doing a public art project for the year and the experience I gain through making a project happen. I’m also in school for electrical engineering and was busy with midterms and the beginning of Christmas orders for my art biz

Thankfully the Arts Council said if I found a new partnering organization and redid the application within a week it would be ok. A science teacher friend of mine had been wanting to do something art related in their room for years and amazingly they were on board for pulling together all the things for the application in a week. It was incredibly hectic but we got it done and eventually I got notice that our application was chosen for funding!

Then 2020 happened and everything went upside down. School went remote, I made over 300 masks for people, and getting the official approval for the mural design was difficult when schools were busy dealing with how to keep kids safe.

There were some positives though. The public art grant that this is funded by requires I involve the public in the design process in some way. Since I couldn’t do any in person events to promote it I focused on PR to local news outlets, radio interviews, and social media posts. People who might not otherwise be involved with a project in a middle school got involved with suggestions and feedback because more people were at home reading stuff online and needed a distraction. I love how this design came out and I think one of its strong points is that it got the greater community involved and excited about art, science, and what’s going on in the middle school. Community engagement is not easy but despite all the ups and downs this public art project made it happen.

Now that my project for 2020 is done I need to do my actual project for 2021. I’m looking for suggestions for the side of the building that houses the bathrooms at Postwood Park in Hannawa. I’d like the mural to be inspired by native wildlife, watershed preservation, and community but will consider all ideas. Please email ideas to saraelynch@gmail.com
Drawings can be mailed to

Sara Lynch
c/o Town Supervisor
18 Elm St
Potsdam NY, 13676

or dropped off in person at the Potsdam Town Hall or Postwood Park concessions stand.

If anyone is interested in contributing to this project I could use help with priming the wall, donations of quality exterior paint, gift cards to a local hardware store, or just send cash directly to @SaraELynchArt on Venmo or saraelynch@gmail.com on Paypal. The grant covers most of the cost but extra support is always appreciated and helps to secure funding for future projects.

This project is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and administered by the St. Lawrence Council Arts Council