Ann Arbor is expected to be home to two new murals by the end of summer 2011.

The Ann Arbor Public Art Commission approved commissioner Jeff Meyers' mural program Tuesday night after amending it a number of times to clarify points and tighten up some language.

In its pilot year — 2010-2011 — the commission will place two murals on city-owned properties. The murals will be commissioned on budgets somewhere between $2,500 and $10,000.

Since none of that money can be spent on travel, lodging or meals, only Michigan-based artists — whether individually or in groups — are eligible to submit requests for qualifications.

A four-member mural task force will oversee the program. A commission member will chair the taskforce and serve alongside a city of Ann Arbor staffer, a local artist, and a member of the community at large, most likely a resident of the neighborhood where the mural will be placed.

Beyond the $2,500 to $10,000 budget, 50 percent of the commissioned cost of each mural will be budgeted for administrative costs.

Murals will be selected on the basis of craftmanship, experience and qualifications.

The funding source for each mural will be determined in one of two ways, depending on whether a mural is physically linked to its funding source, as is the case with the West Park sculpture. If there's no physical connection, it must be a thematic fit. Funding sources include the street and parks millages and other sources.

"Should the task force decide that a downtown parking garage would benefit from the placement of a mural, then the art must reflect its funding source's priorities - i.e., water, parks, streets, etc," read Meyers' proposal.

Murals like this one by Mary Thiefels will become a more common sight in town over the next several years now that the Public Art Commission has approved Jeff Meyers' mural program.

Photo by Holly Smith

In subsequent years, the commission hopes to place as many as four works of art a year. And it won't be limited to city-owned buildings, either, if the commission can obtain easements with private property owners.

Malverne Winborne joins the Public Art Commission; Jim Curtis leaving

Tuesday's Public Art Commission meeting was also the first meeting for new commissioner Malverne Winborne.

Winborne, who is director of charter schools at Eastern Michigan University, will serve in the seat being vacated next month by longtime commissioner Jim Curtis, a local land developer. Curtis will stay on the commission through next month.

Winborne is a longtime Ann Arbor resident who grew up in Baltimore and got his bachelor's degree in psychology from Morgan State before coming to the University of Michigan for his master's degree. Winborne met his wife at Michigan, and he's been in Ann Arbor since.

Commissioners Connie Brown and Marsha Chamberlin were absent from the meeting.

James David Dickson can be reached at JamesDickson@AnnArbor.com.