Alliance defends mural ‘investments’

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We appreciate the thoughtful discussion taking place regarding the Paint CHQ Mural Festival and the role of public art in Chautauqua County. Public art has long been recognized as a catalyst for community pride, economic vitality, and cultural vibrancy. While opinions may differ on funding and process, we would like to highlight why projects like this matter.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

The murals in Falconer, Sherman, Westfield, and the upcoming Dunkirk project have already sparked excitement and positive feedback from residents and visitors. Public art invites people to linger, explore, and reimagine their own communities in new ways. These visible investments help foster welcoming spaces and signal that our towns are places worth visiting, living in, and doing business. In fact one such resident who said he lived and worked in Falconer for 50 years, stopped by the muralists not once, but twice to say that in the 50 years he had lived and run businesses in Falconer, this was by far the best thing to ever happen to Falconer.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

While murals alone are not a silver bullet for economic growth, research consistently shows that arts and culture contribute significantly to local economies. They help small businesses thrive by drawing people downtown, improve the perception of neighborhoods, and create opportunities for tourism.

Every mural is not just art on a wall — it’s part of a broader strategy to strengthen our main streets and encourage investment. Each village had a steering committee of residents from that location, and they directly dictated what went into the mural for their location to help drive interest, and represent things in their area that they are proud of.

LOCAL AND NATIONAL TALENT

Chautauqua County is fortunate to have talented artists, and many of them already enrich our communities through their work. These artists were invited to help paint the murals, and initially they could only sign up for one location, but in reality some of our skilled artists were able to help on 2-3 murals so far. This creates excitement among our art community, energizing them with new ideas. At the same time, inviting artists from outside our region allows us to bring fresh perspectives and an opportunity to learn first hand from them and to connect Chautauqua County to larger cultural conversations. A healthy arts ecosystem balances opportunity for local artists with opportunities to collaborate and learn from others.

PARTNERSHIPS AND FUNDING

Public art projects often leverage a combination of funding sources. Our organization, NSAA is a small volunteer group and we would never have been able to raise the funds necessary for a project of this size. We applaud the Planning Department taking the lead and bringing this to fruition. They now are a resource for any village or town within the County who may want to take on a mural project themselves. We encourage collaboration among local government, state and federal arts agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private donors. Rather than seeing these efforts as competing with job creation, we view them as complementary–because quality of life and cultural vitality are among the very things that attract employers and workers to a region.

In short, the Paint CHQ Mural Festival is not just about murals–it’s about building momentum for communities that want to be vibrant, attractive, and welcoming. We thank the Department of Planning and Economic Development for recognizing the role of the arts in achieving those goals, and we stand ready to work with legislators, local artists, and community members to ensure these projects continue to benefit the county.

Marcia Merrins of Fredonia is president of the North Shore Arts Alliance.