MOORHEAD - A plan to put poetry and art on city sidewalks is getting private financing after the Moorhead City Council essentially ruled out taxpayer funding.
As of Saturday, supporters of the project had already donated more than $12,500, just shy of the needed $14,000.
Su Legatt, a member of the mayor's Art Advisory Group, said that while the "slam dunk" would have been if the City Council had decided to pay for the project, she was delighted by the "amazing response we've received from everybody."
In nine days, the online fundraising campaign attracted 70 donors who gave a combined $12,696.
Legatt said not one person has complained to her about the project, which would stamp poems and drawings into wet cement when the city does construction work on Main Street and Eighth Street South sidewalks this year.
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If the council approves the sidewalk art plan Monday, a committee will take poetry and graphic art submissions from the public, sort through them, and present the best to the City Council for final approval, Legatt said. She predicted that submissions would be accepted no later than late May.
The $14,000 would be used to create 80 to 96 stamps featuring the selected art and poetry, Legatt said.
Residents would be notified before the sidewalk in front of their home was stamped and could ask to opt out, Legatt said.
The art project, inspired by one in St. Paul, is proposed to include sidewalks on Eighth Street from 20th Avenue South to Center Avenue, and on Main Avenue from the river to 14th Street, according to the city. Those who wish to donate can visit www.gofundme.com/sidewalkart .
