Walking and biking along the Vine Trail’s Crosstown Commuter Path has just become a little more vibrant and colorful. The City’s Corporation Yard fence, located along the Vine Trail between Lincoln Avenue and Jackson Street, served as the canvas for the City’s latest public art installation. Entitled “Begin and Continue,” the multicolored artwork stretches over 700 feet and reflects the “Op art” style, popular in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. Napa artist Mikey Kelly created the artwork after being selected from a competitive City process earlier this year. The City’s Public Art Steering Committee juried the competition and awarded Kelly the $40,000 project after the City Council approved the public art project in early 2017.
The parameters of the project required the artist to work with the community as part of the project’s design development. To create “Begin and Continue,” the artist involved students by asking them to describe Napa in one word. Some of the responses included words such as: active, caring, fuerte, amor, and home. The words helped the artist develop both the pattern and palette for the artwork. Kelly also involved the community by photographing people using the trail. He used the photos to produce several metal silhouettes that are also part of the artwork.
The public art project is the City’s tenth public art installation. It is also the fourth artwork installation along the Napa Valley Vine Trail’s “Rail Arts District.” As part of the celebration, the City plans to hold a ribbon-cutting event at the site on Tuesday, November 28th at 2 p.m. The City cordially invites the public to attend the event, where the artist will be available share more about the creative process and answer questions about the artwork.
For more information about the City’s public art program, please visit our Public Art section. For questions directly related to this public art project, please email Shari Cooper, the City of Napa’s Economic Development Project Coordinator, at scooper@cityofnapa.
If you would like to learn more about the artist or the artwork, please visit http://mikeykelly.com.