Public art is popping up all over downtown Augusta with picnic tables and storm drains being the latest additions.
Getting painted picnic tables into the Augusta Common took longer than Brenda Durant, director of the Greater Augusta Arts Council and member of the Rotary Club of Augusta had planned.
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Durant said she and Margaret Woodward with the Downtown Development Authority thought the project would be a great way to help support restaurants that had been hurting from pandemic-related restrictions.
She thought people could buy food downtown to support the restaurants, then eat it at the Augusta Common.
They began working on the idea back in the fall.
Durant said the Rotary club was having virtual meetings rather than in-person lunch events. She decided to approach the group about funding the project.
The funding paid for five tables that are now located in the common. Delays came in trying to find picnic tables in the fall. Since those are seasonal items, they were difficult to find, she said.
Brittany Burnett, the president and CEO of the United Way of the CSRA, enlisted her children into the project and painted tic-tac-toe and checker boards on tables. They painted rocks to make the game pieces.
“It’s very cute,” said Durant.
Kendrick Paint and Body painted a base coat on the tables, and Clint Hill, who works at Kendrick, sanded the tables and painted a second coat, a news release said.
The Augusta Museum of History, Lillie Jester, Durant and her husband, Ed, and Rotary Club volunteers painted the remaining tables.
Durant said she hopes that an additional five tables can be painted soon. It should be easier to find picnic tables as the seasons begin to change.
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A sticker will be placed on the tables with a website listing restaurants with takeout and delivery options, she said.
The tables are not bolted down in the Augusta Common, said Durant, because they need to be able to be moved to mow the grass.
In other art news, painting will begin Monday on the “It All Flows Into the Savannah” storm drain mural project.
The selected designs for 12 storm-drain paintings were announced March 30. They will be painted in multiple locations downtown on roads such as Broad, Ellis and Greene Street.
“To Savannah,” by Lexi White; “Up the River,” by Cyndy Epps; “Not Enough Hands,” by Tim McSherry; “Water Is Life,” by Ansleigh Davis; “Stallings Island,” by Alyssa Beck;
“Rubber Ducky,” by Si-Long Chen; “Reflections,” by Kaya Dunn; “The Great Blue,” by Colleen Beyer-Stewart; “Drain to Savannah,” by Nong Von Buedingen; “Fish and Tadpoles,” by Ruby and Wes Childers; “It All Flows Into the Savannah,” by Geena Zinkand; and “Save the Drain for the Rain,” by Art Abdon, will be painted.
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Community voting helped in selecting the artwork.
Durant said the artists will use a special kind of asphalt paint that is designed to last about two years.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
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