The Palm Beach Post

Murals to decorate arch-shaped windows near Lake Worth city hall

The arch-shaped windows of a historic building west of city hall will be painted with murals in November when the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency kicks off its Nine Arch Mural Project.

Artists selected by a panel will paint murals ranging from a bathing beauty from the early days of Lake Worth to a sea turtle swimming over a reef and abstract works that depict traits such as global thinking, love and nature.

“I started with a face, and it just kind of rolled from there,” said Lake Worth artist Craig McInnis, whose colorful mural titled Key to the City integrates a smiling woman with a car, trees and butterflies. “Her hair could double as a tree line.”

Delray Beach muralist Sharon Koskoff’s abstract mural includes a heart, faces, a globe and other elements meant to represent positive traits of Lake Worth and its people. Green colors symbolize environmental awareness. One hand holding another symbolizes collaboration.

Artists will be paid $500 each to paint their murals, which will face Lake Avenue and H Street and will remain on the building until renovations require their removal to install windows.

Tracy Smith-Coffey, coordinator of the CRA’s LULA Lake Worth Arts program, which seeks to use art as an economic development tool, organized special events such as the Battle of the Bands in September and an American Roots music event in June to raise money for the mural project.

Artists will begin painting their murals during a free public art event set for Nov. 17 that will include music, food and dance at 1000 Lake Ave. — the 1927 building just west of the city hall parking lot that has served as a Scottish Rite Masonic Temple, a post office, drug store, dance school and hotel.

The artists will have until Dec. 1 to complete their murals.

The arch-shaped windows of a historic building west of city hall will be painted with murals in November when the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency kicks off its Nine Arch Mural Project.

Smith-Coffey is planning to hire artists to paint murals on about 10 other Lake Worth buildings in hopes of creating enough for a mural walking tour. When the additional murals will be painted depends on funding.

The CRA entered into a lease-purchase agreement for the historic building in 2010 and is looking for grant money to renovate it.