Paint the Town: Cast your vote in Hawley street art project

Here is your opportunity to help pick the art for one of 22 banners to be displayed in Hawley as part of the 2024 Paint the Town project. The chosen artwork will be on banners lining downtown starting this May.

Wayne County Arts Alliance (WCAA), in collaboration with the Downtown Hawley Partnership and the Foundation for Harmony Presents, is sponsoring this very public art exhibit.

WCAA Executive Director Janet Gaglione said that their "art-loving jury" selected 21 art images from an assortment of 181 submitted images by 77 talented regional artists. She described these pieces as "stunning."

The public gets to decide the 22nd banner, picked from three finalists. Voting is being done online, which started March 20 and runs through midnight on April 2.

Place your vote at http://waynecountyartsalliance.org.

"We will be mounting beautiful banners bedecked with the images of original artwork displayed on poles along Main Avenue and side streets in Hawley, creating a dazzling art trail," Gaglione said.

The 28-by-60-inch vertical banners will be installed in time to celebrate the Memorial Day parade.

Last fall, Henry Skier, founder of the Foundation for Harmony Presents, said Paint the Town is a continuation of the vision that began to unfold in 2019 when "Moo," the face of a contented Holstein cow was picked for what was to be the first of a series of large murals displayed downtown. "Moo," rendered by Ula Nero of Damascus, is displayed on the side wall of the 126 Main Ave. building of AMSkier Insurance, greeting the public entering downtown going east on Route 6.

The project has returned following a temporary eclipse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Alliance asked for help to recruit artists for the mural. About 250 submissions were received and jurors picked three. They were only able to exhibit one before the pandemic slowed things down.

Gaglione wanted to restart it. Jeanne Genzlinger and Skier relaunched it under the "Paint the Town" theme.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.