Public Art | Rotary Club of Caro

Cultivate Creativity: Bringing Public Art to Caro

Cities gain value through public art – cultural, social, and economic value. Public art is a distinguishing part of our public history and our evolving culture. It reflects and reveals our society, adds meaning to our cities and uniqueness to our communities. Public art humanizes the built environment and invigorates public spaces. It provides an intersection between past, present and future, between disciplines, and between ideas. Public art is freely accessible. American cities and towns aspire to be places where people want to live and want to visit. Having a particular community identity, especially in terms of what our towns look like, is becoming even more important in a world where everyplace tends to looks like everyplace else. Places with strong public art expressions break the trend of blandness and sameness, and give communities a stronger sense of place and identity. When we think about memorable places, we think about their icons – consider the St. Louis Arch, the totem poles of Vancouver, the heads at Easter Island. All of these were the work of creative people who captured the spirit and atmosphere of their cultural milieu. Absent public art, we would be absent our human identities.

The Caro community is a wonderful small city with so many spaces just waiting for gorgeous public art. Whether you can paint, host, or admire, we would love for you to take part in our project.

Thanks to our great donors, we are were able to commission 4 small murals and 1 large mural for the 2024 season. Thank you to the Rotary Club of Caro, the William & Ruth Janks Fund of the Tuscola County Community Foundation, the Caro Downtown Development Authority, Nancy Thane, Theron W. Atwood Sr. American Legion Post 7, Linda Mason, Al & Dolly Jones, and Northstar Bank.

Our mural 'Glowing Grace' has been completed by artist Rich Ayers and can be found in Trudeau Square, 145 N State St. It features a Bioluminescent Hydrangea.

Bioluminescent Hydrangea by Artist Rich Ayers

Our mural 'Butterfly Effect' has been completed by artist April Cutler. It is located in Trudeau Square at 145 N. State Street.

Our mural 'Guardian of Ideas' has been completed by artist Ward Donovan. It is located in Trudeau Square at 145 N. State Street.

Our mural 'Lil Miss Behavin' has been completed by artists Billy Budd and Johnnie Martinez. It is located in Trudeau Square at 145 N. State Street.

Our large mural 'Embark' has been completed by artist Kevin Burdick. It is located on the side of the Continental Home building at 362 N. State Street. This historical piece tells the story of how Caro became the county seat of Tuscola County. When Tuscola County was founded, Vassar was the county seat. In 1860, the County Supervisors began discussing that the county seat should be more centrally located. For six years, a battle raged about where the county seat should go and what should happen. In 1866, it was finally decided that Centerville (soon to be Caro) would become the county seat. Peter Bush, one of the first colonial settlers, recognized what an opportunity this would be for Caro. He donated property to the county and built a courthouse. When this was complete, they sent word to Vassar that things were ready and that they should send over the county documents. Vassar declined; they wanted to remain the county seat. After months at a standstill, Peter Bush took things into his own hands. He asked his friend Ashdonquit, an indigenous resident otherwise known as Crossing Cloud or “Indian Dave” to help. Under the dark of night, they paddled downstream in a canoe on the Cass River to Vassar, acquired the documents, and rowed back upstream. The documents were secure in the new courthouse by morning. That is the story of how Caro became the county seat. This mural 'Embark' was created to honor the legacy of those men and tell the story of how history has shaped Caro‘s future.

Update: applications for 2024 closed on May 15. The public art committee will meet soon to match artists to hosts. If you did not get to apply, please watch for our 2025 project early next year.

We are looking for artists to contribute the following:

- Large scale murals painted on full walls (up to $7,000 stipend)

- Pieces of smaller painted spot art (up to $1,750 stipend)

Please note that final stipend will be based on size of wall selected for each mural; the above estimates are given to give artist a rough idea of our project budget but are subject to change based on interest and size of walls submitted by property owners.

Our Cultivate Creativity Committee will review all artist and property applications and determine the best fit for our projects in 2024. Compensation will be provided to selected artists for time, supplies, and services rendered.

Selected artists must complete their murals by September 30, 2024.

Update: applications for 2024 closed on May 15. The public art committee will meet soon to match artists to hosts. If you did not get to apply, please watch for our 2025 project early next year.

If you are located within the Caro community, you are eligible to apply to have a mural painted on your building as part of the Cultivate Creativity project!

The committee reviews location applications on size, condition, material, visibility, and proximity to other murals. All property owners that are selected must give final written approval of the design by the artist we select. If our chosen artist doesn't vibe with your vision, you can always postpone until next year!