Treasure Coast Sun

City of Port St. Lucie issued the following announcement on Jan. 29.

The City of Port St. Lucie has been approved for a $10,000 Challenge America grant to support the creation of a mural outside Minsky Gym depicting PSL’s vision to be a City for All People.

Overall, the National Endowment for the Arts has approved 1,187 grants totaling $27.3 million in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects across the country. Port St. Lucie is one of 145 Challenge America grants included in this announcement.

“We are excited and thankful to be partnering with the NEA on a public art project that will celebrate and reinforce who we are as a community—a safe, beautiful and prosperous City for all people,” Port St. Lucie Mayor Gregory J. Oravec said.

Port St. Lucie’s project will be a mural on the wall of the 8,000 square-foot Minsky Gym at 750 SW Darwin Blvd. The project site is centrally located in the community, adjacent to Windmill Point Elementary School, Whispering Pines Park and Treasure Coast High School. A mural on Minsky Gym will be visible from Darwin Blvd. and provide an opportunity for an underserved community to experience art. 

The City will hold a public workshop to gather community members with the selected muralists to help identify neighborhood interests and develop design concepts. The goal is to unveil the mural at a future Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration.

The Challenge America funding category offers support primarily to small and mid-sized organizations for projects that extend the reach of the arts to populations that have limited access to the arts due to geography, ethnicity, economics, or disability. Each grant is for a fixed amount of $10,000 and requires a minimum $10,000 cost share/match.

 “The arts are at the heart of our communities, connecting people through shared experiences and artistic expression,” said Arts Endowment chairman Mary Anne Carter. “The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support projects like the City of Port St. Lucie’s mural.”

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

Original source can be found here.