• Related story: With poll: $35K boost in public art administrator's contract recommended to Ann Arbor City Council

Ann Arbor is moving forward with several public art projects, including a mural in Allmendinger Park and a suspended work of art in the new Justice Center. The city also is considering the East Stadium Bridges as a potential spot for public art.

An update on those and other projects in the pipeline came from Marsha Chamberlin, chairwoman of the Public Art Commission, at a City Council meeting Monday night.

Artist qualification statements are due today for the mural project at Allmendinger Park, Chamberlain said, and the city hopes to have an artist selected by March to paint the mural.

"We have developed a mural program which will allow us to move forward with putting murals throughout the city in different forms," Chamberlin said. "But this is our first pilot project."

The city pays for public art through its Percent For Art Program. Under an ordinance approved by the City Council in late 2007, 1 percent of the budget for all city capital projects — up to a limit of $250,000 per project — is set aside in a special public art fund.

The city also has selected three artists from throughout the nation — Thomas Sayre, Ed Carpenter and Ray King — as finalists for a suspended work of art in the corner of the lobby of the new Justice Center building next to city hall. Their formal proposals are due Dec. 1.

The city also expects to release a request for qualifications this month for a public art piece in conjunction with Fuller Road Station. Qualification statements will be due in February.

Another proposed site for public art is the East Stadium Boulevard bridges. The bridges are being demolished and reconstructed starting later this month.

"It is a really exciting place to think about how many hundreds of thousands of people pass that space all the time," Chamberlin said. "We think this has the potential to be a very exciting project, and we would be in on the beginning of this project, which is really useful."

Public art also is being considered at the site of a rain garden project the city plans to get started on next year at Kingsley and First, where an old house is being demolished.

Other locations being considered include the canoe bypass at Argo Dam and the Gallup Canoe Livery, Chamberlin said.

The commission also has a project under way with the Detroit Institute of Arts. Chamberlin said the DIA wants to put more pieces in Ann Arbor and is looking for outdoor public locations, including park spaces. She said the DIA would pay all costs.

Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's e-mail newsletters.