Bhubaneswar, May 3: The civic body plans to hire an independent agency to bea-utify the city through graffiti, murals and street art.
Earlier, the civic body used to invite artists for the purpose. They were given areas to draw graffiti and murals displaying the state's cultural heritage.
But now, officials feel that an independent agency will bring "uniformity" in artworks across the city.
"Various agencies and artistes have helped us in taking up the wall painting and murals. But this often created a variation since all of them have their own distinctive styles of work. We want to bring uniformity in the project, which could only be achieved if the work is entrusted to a single agency," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
The civic body plans to float a tender and select one independent entity - be it an art school, a non-governmental organisation or an independent artiste having expertise in the field. The agency or the individual will be given certain parts of the city in phase-wise manner for urban beautification.
The civic body has painted several walls of the city with art that reflects the state's tradition. The initiative was taken during 2008, which benefited many artistes and art organisations. Their works had received widespread appreciation.
"The wall paintings and the murals have not only provided us with jobs and employment, but also gave us an opportunity to showcase our talents. The initiative to paint the walls which reflected the art and culture of the state also helped the residents of the city and the visitors alike to gain an understanding of Odia art," said artist Simanchal Nayak, who had been a part of the project.
In the upcoming phase, the civic body has decided to cover the walls of various flyovers and also the interiors of the government office buildings with graffiti and murals. "Several flyovers and the government buildings will be included in the city beautification project," said the mayor.
Sources said that apart from painting the walls to showcase the tradition of the state, a plan is also afoot to take up 3D painting of the walls and on streets to convey various social messages.
Besides, the walls of the newly constructed toilets of the city will also be painted to crate awareness among people for their wider use.
A senior official of the civic body said that they had invited request for qualification for selecting the agency following which a proposal would be invited. The final tender process will be completed after that.
"The entire process of selecting the agency will take two months. We hope to start working with the new agency by August," said the official.
Unit-IV resident Janmejaya Mohanty said that it was indeed a unique initiative of the city administration to paint the walls.
"Painting the walls to showcase the art and culture of the state will definitely help people understand our glorious history better. It will also contribute to the city's beautification," said Mohanty.