Lexington's second art bus shelter will be called Artstop and its theme will celebrate the city's East End — its musical history and African-American culture.
The shelter, which will be located at Third Street and Elm Tree Lane, across from the old Lyric Theatre, is scheduled to be dedicated in early August.
"This is a shelter with sort of a traditional canopy, but it incorporates a free-standing sculpture and five two-dimensional art murals," said Yvette Hurt, who came up with the idea of putting art shelters at LexTran bus stops.
"Our hope is the art murals would change periodically, perhaps every six months or so," she said. Artists would be paid an honorarium of $200 per mural; sponsors for the commissioned artwork are being sought. The artists' images would be reproduced on shelter panels.
The cost of the Artstop project, including the replacement of crumbling sidewalks in the area to make the shelter more accessible, comes to $58,475, according to figures from Hurt. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council has agreed to provide up to $35,950 in Neighborhood Development Bond Fund money for the project. LexTran is contributing $8,000. The remainder will come from grant money and private donations. Hundreds of non-paid volunteer hours have also gone into the project.
Bottlestop, Lexington's first art shelter, made primarily of hundreds of recycled vintage Ale 8 One soda bottles and located on Versailles Road, was paid for with $10,000 in federal funds, $3,500 from Ale 8 One and $7,322 from LexTran. Bottlestop also was done with a lot of non-paid volunteer work.
So far, there have been no major problems with Bottlestop, Hurt said.
LexTran spokesman Dave Riggins has been pleased with the art shelters.
"I believe that progressive cities are the ones that really reach out and promote public art, and are also pedestrian and transit friendly," said Riggins. "This is an example of progress we're seeing in Lexington with regard to these areas."
EOP Architects designed Artstop and is coordinating its construction. Several other partners are involved in the project, including Art in Motion, an organization founded by Hurt; Lexington Art League; LexArts; the Urban League; and individual artists and area residents.
Artstop project participants hope to have the first commissioned murals in place by next spring. The five murals to be placed initially in the shelter are done by graphic designer Joseph Tiu. Those murals will advertise the art shelter as an outdoor gallery for the neighborhood and promote the gallery's mission of celebrating the East End's history and culture, Hurt said.
The sculpture, called Lyrical Movement — two dancers stepping in unison — is by Garry Bibbs, a member of the University of Kentucky faculty.
The shelter structure, design fee and construction coordination, costs $36,675, with the money coming largely from the Neighborhood Development Bond Fund, along with some privately raised funds. The sculpture is an additional $12,000, with $7,000 of the cost coming from a Knight Foundation grant and $5,000 from private donations. The $8,000 from LexTran is for a concrete pad for the shelter and a retaining wall. The sidewalk replacement, which costs $1,800, is being paid for with Neighborhood Development Bond Fund money.
In addition, Hurt estimated that there will have been more than 400 non-paid volunteer hours put into the shelter before it is completed.
"I think it's beautiful," said First District Councilwoman Andrea James, who has been instrumental in bringing the Artstop project to fruition. "It's very purposeful."
Artstop is "worth every penny," she said.
