Colorful street art galore is the goal of new project for Redmond walking tunnel
(Update: Adding video, committee chair comments)
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) – One walking tunnel in Redmond is about to become a lot more colorful, again.
The Redmond tunnel on the west side of the city running below Route 126 used to be lined with art, but the walls were painted over because they were the victim of tagging.
Now, a new project seeks to restore the color to those walls by simply letting everybody have a free-for-all.
Redmond Committee for Art in Public Places (RCAPP) chair Dan Mooney told NewsChannel 21Friday, "We want art, we want graffiti art, street art, pretty much anywhere in this tunnel -- the roof, the sides."
Mooney has tried before to use the tunnel under Highway 126 as a public canvas.
"Going back six years ago, we painted this with RPA (Redmond Proficiency Academy) students," he said. "And it was a beautiful painting, it worked out great."
But they didn’t get the same result when they tried to refresh the painting a few years later.
"The next day, we came to the tunnel and it had already been tagged," Mooney said.
City leaders define tagging as using a single color to write something, usually a name over a piece of art.
John Bruce, who walks through the tunnel nearly every day, said, "I don't understand the problem with vandalism. I don't understand why it's done."
Tagging can be art, Mooney said, but they’re looking for street art, which is more like murals.
The RCAPP’s idea is new, one-year pilot program where anyone can paint on the walls of the tunnel, and it will be monitored daily for inappropriate messages.
"We wanted a place where there is controversy with tagging and graffiti,” Mooney said. “We wanted a place that's kind of hidden, but it brings light to artists."
Want to change what's on the walls you saw? Mooney encouraged it.
"Someone can come later and paint over your painting,” he said. “We want it to be kind of a rival thing."
Mooney said he hopes the space will cut down on tagging elsewhere. The pilot program is being presented to city council next week and could start in the spring.
