History nearly repeated itself at Tuesday's city council meeting, where members approved $410,000 for a second phase of Kestrel River Greenway murals by a 4-3 vote, almost the same narrow margin that funded the project's first phase two years ago.
The council’s 4-3 vote came after roughly 90 minutes of debate that echoed much of the argument surrounding the original mural funding fight two years ago, with supporters citing the first phase’s popularity and opponents questioning whether the city’s arts fund should grow while other budget priorities go unmet. Council Members Patricia Yoon, Aisha Muhammad, Luis Bettencourt and Walter Kowalczyk voted in favor; Terrence Boudreaux, Gary Petrowski and Denise Okafor voted against.
“This isn’t a hard call for me,” Muhammad said before the vote. “My district has watched the rest of this city get a beautiful piece of public art for two years while we waited our turn. Tonight we stop waiting.”
A familiar dissent
Petrowski, who voted against the first phase and had signaled his opposition to the second in advance, reiterated his argument that the city continues to fund public art ahead of treatment and workforce services in Cedar Hollow. He was joined this time by Boudreaux, who said Lowertown’s own reinvestment needs made it difficult for him to support new spending in a different neighborhood.
“I don’t doubt these murals will be beautiful, the same as the first nine were,” Boudreaux said. “But Lowertown has waited a lot longer than two years for reinvestment dollars, and I have a hard time going back to my constituents and explaining why Riverside Heights got theirs before we got ours.”
I voted no the first time, I’m voting no this time, and I’ll probably vote no on a third phase if there ever is one. That’s not me hating art. That’s me asking this council to explain its priorities in a way that adds up.
Gary Petrowski, City Council Member, District 4 (Cedar Hollow)
What happens next
Adeyemi said the museum will begin formally commissioning artists within the next month, with a goal of completing the seven-mural Riverside Heights extension within roughly a year, weather and permitting timelines permitting. She said several artists from the first phase, including muralist Ines Carrizo, have expressed interest in contributing to the new stretch.
“The first phase took two years partly because we were building the process from nothing,” Adeyemi said. “We already know how to run this project now. I don’t expect the second phase to move quite that quickly, but I don’t expect it to take two years either.”
Kowalczyk, who cast the deciding vote on the first phase and voted in favor again Tuesday, said he understood the dissenting council members’ frustration but continued to believe the murals produce returns that extend beyond the arts fund line item. “Foot traffic on that greenway went up 20 percent after the first phase,” he said. “That’s not just an arts outcome. That’s people spending money at businesses along that trail who weren’t there before.”
- The council approved $410,000 for the second mural phase by a 4-3 vote.
- Council Members Patricia Yoon, Aisha Muhammad, Luis Bettencourt and Walter Kowalczyk voted in favor; Terrence Boudreaux, Gary Petrowski and Denise Okafor voted against.
- The museum expects to commission artists within a month, with the seven-mural extension targeted for completion within roughly a year.
Okafor, who represents suburban West Bellwater and does not border the greenway, said her no vote reflected a broader unease with the city’s growing pattern of funding high-profile downtown and riverfront amenities while suburban infrastructure requests go unaddressed. “I don’t oppose the murals on their merits,” Okafor said. “I oppose a budget process that keeps finding money for the parts of the city that already get the most attention.”
Yoon, who represents the Downtown Core and voted in favor of both mural phases, said she understood Okafor’s frustration but argued the comparison undersold how much of the arts fund’s growth has come from dedicated hotel-tax revenue rather than money that could otherwise flow to general infrastructure. “This isn’t general fund money competing with a road repaving project,” Yoon said. “It’s a dedicated revenue stream that, by its own rules, has to go toward tourism and cultural investment. If we don’t spend it on something like this, it doesn’t automatically become available for West Bellwater’s sidewalks.”
Okafor said she did not dispute the technical point but maintained that the city’s overall pattern of high-visibility investment still skews toward downtown and the riverfront regardless of which specific fund pays for it. “The rules of the fund don’t change how it looks from West Bellwater,” she said. “I’ll keep making that argument every time this comes up, technicality or not.”
Adeyemi said she does not expect the funding debate to end with Tuesday’s vote, noting that Kowalczyk himself has acknowledged a future third phase would likely face the same fight all over again. “I’d be surprised if it didn’t,” she said. “At this point I think that fight is just part of how this city decides what its public art is worth.”