• Developer/Project Proponent: Renew Moline in cooperation with the City of Moline
• Renew Moline Role: Securing project funding ($50,000) from the Moline [Regional Community] Foundation, finding and hiring consultants, administrative oversight of the contract and project management. 
• Completion Date: 2021
• Project/website link: Public Art Commission | City of Moline, IL – Official Website

In 2019, in cooperation with the City of Moline, Renew Moline hired the Columbus, Ohio-based planning firm Designing Local to lead development of a public art master plan. Renew Moline sought and was awarded $50,000 from the Moline Foundation to fund the Plan, which was developed in a public, transparent and collaborative process.  Designing Local engaged the public in the planning process over a period of several months. The Public Art & Placemaking Plan:

• Defines and describes public art, to educate and inform the public about the role of art in community building;
• Creates an inventory of existing public art assets and features; and
• Establishes and promotes a clear vision for public art that aligns with the City’s economic development and urban design goals.

In August of 2021, the City of Moline Mayor and Council unanimously approved the Public Art & Placemaking Plan, which included implementing ordinances, a financing structure and the establishment of a Public Art Commission.  The Plan encourages the City to set a side public art funds through the annual budgeting process, encourages partnerships to seek funding through federal, state and local grants; and uses the development process to focus investments in public art into future development and infrastructure projects. By employing multiple funding sources, the Plan will be both balanced and implemented over time.  The first project implemented under the Plan—a mural—was completed in the Fall of 2023.