Port to add mural, sculpture to art collection

Port Washington’s collection of public art is about to get larger.

Work began in earnest this week on a continuation of the Jackson Street mural on the retaining wall west of Franklin Street, and a large “I Love PW” sculpture is expected to be erected in Coal Dock Park by mid-June.

The mural, which was approved by the Common Council in January, is expected to be completed by the end of July.

The lead artists for the mural are Sherri

Kultgen and Rodrigo Santamaria, who helped organize murals during the Paint on Port program.

It is being financed through a donation by Fred Nast, who often commented that the current mural on the retaining wall didn’t look complete, Wendy Braam, who worked on the mural program, said.

“He kept joking about when were we going to finish it,” she said, adding that days after he made a donation to extend the mural he passed away suddenly while walking his dog near the painting.

“Fred loved this community,” she said.

To accommodate the mural, the city’s street department power washed the retaining wall, then primed it.

Work to outline the mural began this week, and painting is to begin shortly, with applications of painted embellishments expected to be done in mid-July.

The Coal Dock Park sculpture, modeled after the iconic “I Love New York” logo that uses a red heart to symbolize the word love, is being paid for through donations from Cloverleaf Infrastructure, which worked last year to bring the Vantage Data Centers Lighthouse Campus to Port Washington, and contractor CD Smith, which is working on both the Public Safety Building and renovations to the water plant, Mayor Ted Neitzke said.

The $100,000 donation includes money for a maintenance fund, he added.

The 12-foot-high sculpture, which will be made of aluminum affixed to a concrete base, will be angled so it is visible from downtown, he said.

“My thought is this will become a focal point,” Neitzke said, noting it will be placed so that people can take photos that include the sculpture with the city’s iconic lighthouse in the background. “There’s a lot of traffic that goes through that area.

“I can see this becoming a place where people go to take their photos for weddings, prom, homecoming and senior pictures.”

Neitzke said he believes the sculpture will draw people to the park, which is currently underused, and will become the start to the sculpture garden that was proposed for Coal Dock Park when it was created years ago.

“The idea is we’ll start with this and then we’ll work on getting other sculptures out there,” he said, adding that talk of this piece has spurred inquiries from other people who want to donate sculptures to the city.

“I would love to see them all around Port,” Neitzke added. “To be able to take a walk through downtown and see this — it’s one more reason to come to Port Washington.”

The sculpture was approved by the Common Council and Plan Commission in May.