Gainesvlle’s newest downtown work of art continues to take shape and you still have about 45 days to be a part of it.
CITY OG GAINESVILLE NEWS RELEASE:
Public Art Gainesville, GA (Vision 2030) in partnership with the City of Gainesville, isn’t “dragon” its feet on its newest public art endeavor. In fact, the organizations are “slaying” the public art game and breathing some fire into their latest efforts to have “Art Everywhere” in Gainesville, which they hope to rebrand as a popular art destination.
Public Art Gainesville, the new name for the Vision 2030 group, unveiled plans during Main Street Gainesville’s second annual Art Walk to bring interactive dragon art to Roosevelt Square in downtown Gainesville. ‘Fire-breathing’ dragon coming to downtown Gville (wgtjradio.com) The dragon, the first interactive art piece to be installed downtown in years, will serve as yet another avenue to attract visitors to the historic square, which has become the hotspot for those seeking the best in restaurants, retail, entertainment and tasting rooms.
“Great communities have great art,” exclaimed Assistant City Manager Angela Sheppard. “We love the idea of the dragon as it was inspired by Gainesville’s lengthy history of hosting the Atlanta Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival for the last 26 years, soon to be 27, at Lake Lanier Olympic Park (LLOP).”
As a result of hosting these dragon boat races, LLOP has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, rowers, tourists and athletes from around the world. Inspired by the cultural and historical significance of these races on Lake Lanier, Public Art Gainesville and the City set out to create a piece of interactive public art unlike any other.
“Really, the vision that we had was trying to bring a little bit of Lake Lanier to downtown Gainesville,” Sheppard said. “Of course, we’re a lake community and everybody knows us as a lake community, but we really wanted to have more of that represented in our art. So we thought what a great way to do that by having this dragon.”
The installation, designed by Todd Vaught with Atlanta-based Confluence Design, will stand 14 feet, 6 inches tall and measure 30 feet long.
“The dragon – it’s kind of this interesting, unique blend of art and technology,” Sheppard explained. “The dragon will come to life at certain times of the day. It will roar, it will blow some steam out of its nose as if it’s breathing fire, its mouth will light up, its eyes will light up. So it’ll just be this really unique experience for visitors to come and see.”
The art display is a smaller part of a larger improvements project underway on the City’s downtown campus. Under this three-phase project, the City will continue work to improve pedestrian flow, repair broken sidewalks and ensure accessibility for all. In addition to Roosevelt Square/the Brenau Plaza, the scope of the project includes improved sidewalks along Jesse Jewell Parkway between E.E. Butler Parkway and Main Street, and a redesigned entrance to the Gainesville Administration Building on the Jesse Jewell side.
For the interactive dragon art component, however, Public Art Gainesville recently kicked off its fundraising campaign, selling “500 names for $500,” which will ultimately be engraved on a set of sleek 3-foot-tall granite walls surrounding the public art piece. Donors who contribute a tax-deductible donation may secure one or more spots where they can opt to engrave an individual’s name, couple’s names, family name or business name. The opportunity to become a “Friend of the Dragon” is available to anyone and everyone until July 31. The walls themselves will be enhanced by replaceable content panels, where organizers plan to share the dragon’s story, along with a permanent artwork overview plaque.
Donors have up to 34 characters (including spaces) to spotlight an individual’s name, couple’s names, family name or business name (ex. John Smith, John and Jane Smith, The Smith Family or The Smiths, or The Smith Company). Engravings will measure .75 inches tall and will allow donors to leave a lasting mark on the downtown cityscape.
The City hopes the dragon and its surrounding plaza will be complete by early fall 2024.
To learn more or donate to the cause, visit PublicArtGainesvilleGA.com or https://donorbox.org/cityofgainesvilledragon.
(Images are renderings of what finished product should look like.)