On Monday, the Las Cruces City Council is expected to discuss a public art program. The weekly city manager newsletter states city councilors will discuss a plan that could make public art more common in Las Cruces.
The resolution for the program would designate 1% for the arts for most facility related, general funded, capital improvement projects. Such a policy would be incorporated into the city’s budgeting process. Specific projects and funding would be identified within the Capital Improvement Program.
The proposed policy is similar to the State of New Mexico’s Arts in Public Places legislation that has been in effect for several years.
One Las Cruces project already identified within the proposed program is a $30,000 set aside for an art project at the soon to be constructed East Mesa Public Safety Complex.
The city manager newsletter states the city’s Arts Board would solicit artists for that project in the near future should the public arts policy be approved.