Cornville residents may soon see murals depicting our rural lifestyle popping up on fences and buildings throughout the community’s 33 neighborhoods, as the Cornville Community Association and Cornville Historical Society team up with muralist Joan Bourque to launch a public art project.
“We want to do is to show people who we are — the people who live in Cornville, and what we enjoy about life here, whether it be riding horses or gardening or enjoying the water, kayaking, that kind of thing,” Bourque said. “We want to put these murals out there to show people: This is us. We’re nature people.”
The funding strategy involves multiple approaches: Applying for a grant from the Yavapai County Arizona Community Foundation with the application cycle that recently opened, and hopefully establishing a special cooperative fund with seed money from both the organizations, pending board approvals. They’re also considering crowdfunding campaigns similar to those they’ve used for past community projects, though the exact amounts each organization might contribute haven’t been determined yet as they wait to get estimates on the first mural.
The idea for more community murals from the two organizations has been brewing since the Cornville Community Association received make-a-difference grants from the Arizona Community Foundation a couple of years ago. After presenting the concept at a community meeting during the summer, organizers surveyed Cornville residents about the idea.
“Everyone was kind of overwhelming, saying, ‘Oh, I think it’s a wonderful idea,’ as long as we do murals that are in keeping with our Cornville character,” Public Works Committee Chairwoman Judy Miller said. “The criteria [is] things that reflect a rural theme or maybe tell something about our history.”
Miller said she envisions a mix of prominent murals along main corridors such as Cornville Road and Page Springs Road, with smaller pieces on buildings and fences throughout side roads. Tentatively the first new mural is slated for a private property along Cornville Road near Interstate 17, where a property owner is in early talks to let them paint their fence.
Bourque estimates costs at about $10 per square foot for materials, meaning a four-by-eight or five-by-eight mural would run around $400. The working group plans to recruit volunteers to help keep costs down while creating a collaborative community experience for the painting of the murals. Additionally they are focusing on private land rather than navigating the more complex approval processes required for public buildings.
“I really appreciate the way I see others grow or change or enjoy being part of the team of putting these together,” Bourque said who is also currently doing a similar project currently at Clarkdale-Jerome School District “Especially with kids, it’s a hoot because they are very proud of themselves when they finish a project like this. … I like to work with kids in groups because I like to see the enhancement in their own lives. They realize they can do something that they didn’t know they could do. But working with people in general and getting a group of different ideas and then putting them all together it’s a challenge. But it usually comes together, and it’s a wonderful feeling.”
The group is looking for additional property owners with suitable locations such as along the major roadways with high public visibility and additional ideas, volunteers and funding opportunities.
“We don’t want to inundate the community with murals, but we’d just like to have some here and there for bright spots,” Miller said. “We’d just like people to be proud of their community and happy to keep Cornville rural.”
Residents interested in joining the working group or offering their property as a potential mural site can contact Miller at (928) 301-3844 or jdymlraz@gmail.com, or contact Bourque at (928) 300-8834 or joanlou@mac.com.
For more information about the Cornville Community Association visit cornvilleaz.org
