Interactive dragon art will be featured on Roosevelt Square in downtown Gainesville. It is the Public Art Gainesville, formally known as Vision 2020, initiative to have “Art Everywhere” in Gainesville. The idea is to rebrand Gainesville as a popular art destination.
“Great communities have great art. We love the idea of the dragon as it was inspired by Gainesville’s lengthy history of hosting the Atlanta Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival for the last 26 years, soon to be 27, at Lake Lanier Olympic Park,” said Assistant City Manager Angela Sheppard.
Hundreds of thousands have visited the city because of Lake Lanier Olympic Park. Public Art Gainesville wants to utilize the historical value and the interest in the dragon boat races to entice the public to further explore what Gainesville has to offer.
Plans unveiled
Public Art Gainesville has unveiled the plans for Main Street during Gainesville’s second annual Art Walk. The dragon will be the first interactive art piece installed. The hope is to attract visitors to the historic square with its restaurants, retail shops, entertainment, and tasting rooms.
“The vision that we had was trying to bring a little bit of Lake Lanier to downtown Gainesville,” Sheppard added. “Of course, we’re a lake community and everybody knows us as a lake community, but we wanted to have more of that represented in our art. So, we thought what a great way to do that by having this dragon.”
Todd Vaught, from Atlanta-based Confluence Design, designed the 14-foot, 6-inch tall dragon which measures 30 feet long.
Sheppard described the dragon as a combination of art and technology blended. At certain times of the day, the dragon will come to life. Steam may come from its nose and its mouth will light up along with its eye.
“It’ll just be this unique experience for visitors to come and see,” Sheppard said.
Three-phase project
This is a three-phase project to improve the City’s downtown campus. The city’s goal is to improve sidewalks along Jesse Jewell Parkway, a redesigned entrance to the Gainesville Administration Building on the Jesse Jewell side, and the Roosevelt Square and Brenau Plaza.
Public Art Gainesville has recently started its fundraising campaign, selling “500 names for $500”. The names will be engraved on a set of sleek 3-foot-tall granite walls surrounding the public art piece.
Donations are tax-deductible. Donors can engrave individual names, couple’s names, family names, or business names. It is an opportunity to become a “Friend of the Dragon” but the deadline is July 31.
The walls will be enhanced by replaceable content panels, where organizers plan to share the dragon’s story, along with a permanent artwork overview plaque.
Donors have up to 34 characters (including spaces) to spotlight an individual’s name, couple’s name, family name, or business name (ex. John Smith, John and Jane Smith, The Smith Family or The Smiths, or The Smith Company). Engravings will measure .75 inches tall and will allow donors to leave a lasting mark on the downtown cityscape.
The completion is anticipated for the early fall of 2024.
You can learn more or donate to the cause.
