Stunning painted murals and electrical boxes adorn the streets of Fort Collins, but where do they come from?

The Art in Public Places program has been operating since 1995 with the sole intent of providing art to the community in order to improve the quality of life of the residents of Fort Collins.

“(Art) helps a community because it could create an experience that educates the community about the history of the people and the land in that area.” –Lisa Cameron Russell, artist and creator of “Sustainable Gardens”

Ellen Martin, staff liaison for the Art in Public Places program, detailed just how important it is for the Fort Collins community to have an expansive arrangement of art decorated around town.

“(Art in Public Places) was started because it was recognized that art is vitally important to the quality of life and an economic driver in the community,” Martin said. “The goals of the program (are) to enrich the public environment for residents and visitors through the visual arts, increase public access to works of art, promote understanding and awareness of the visual arts in the public environment and promote a variety of artistic expressions in the community.”

Not only is the program a great way to bring the Fort Collins community together but also to recognize and appreciate the town’s history.

“Since the start, the program has enhanced the aesthetics of the city, developed creative public spaces, promoted and supported artists and spread artwork throughout the city,” Martin said. “Art contributes to the community’s civic pride, often giving opportunities to learn about the site, our history and our community.”

 The program has no shortage of artists because of the Request for Qualification in which they examine an artist’s previous work, and if selected, the artist will work closely with a project team to see their project through.

The Art in Public Places program pushes to garner as many artists as it can. They especially focus on bringing in local artists.

“Many local artists have contributed to the program,” Martin said. “Some are selected from a call that is open to a larger geographic area; others are selected in a call that is only open to Fort Collins artists. For example, the Transformer Cabinet Mural program is only open to artists who live or have a studio in the Fort Collins Growth Management Area, so all of the nearly 400 murals have been painted by Fort Collins artists.”

A specific instance of an artist being brought on by the Art in Public Places program is Lisa Cameron Russell, a seasoned artist who has contributed numerous pieces to Fort Collins, one of which is the “Sustainable Gardens.”

Russell enjoys creating pieces based on nature, and “Sustainable Gardens” is no exception. This piece is specifically inspired by the nature in the Fort Collins area. Russell’s piece showcases gaillardia flowers on one side and pinecones on the other.

Russell reflected on Art in Public Places initiatives and detailed just how important providing art pieces is.

“They speak to the community for which they are made,” Russell said. “You try to learn about what that community has an interest in or the history they want to reflect. It helps a community because it could create an experience that educates the community about the history of the people and the land in that area.”

Russell’s “Sustainable Gardens” piece was meant to be implemented in an alleyway that had the theme of sustainability; however, at the last moment, it was put in another area. Russell looked on the bright side of this occurrence.

“It is nice to bring color and vegetation to an area that otherwise maybe doesn’t have that much in more of a cityscape,” Russell said. “It ended up in the right place.”

If you want to see the “Sustainable Gardens” for yourself, the art piece is located on the southeast corner of Mountain Avenue and Remington Street.

Reach Christian Arndt at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.