To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the AthFest Music and Arts Festival, AthFest Educates announced it will commission a large-scale public mural that reflects AthFest Educates’ commitment to music and arts education for youth and the role AthFest has played in shaping the community’s music and arts culture.

The organization, which is dedicated to sustaining and advancing music and arts education for young people in Athens-Clarke County, is requesting proposals from youth-serving organizations interested in producing a mural as part of a multi-month arts program, and from professional artists who would work with that organization’s youth to create the mural. AthFest Educates will invest up to $20,000 to be divided among the youth-serving organization(s) coordinating and operating the youth programming and the professional artist(s) designing and producing the mural with the young people.

AthFest Educates is also requesting proposals from local business property owners interested in donating a highly visible outdoor wall to be used for the large-scale public art mural.

Jill Helme, Executive Director of AthFest Educates said, “we wanted to commemorate this milestone in a way that honors the festival, our community’s local artists and artistic culture, and the AthFest Educates mission of supporting music and arts education for youth. The mural project allows us to proudly showcase the artistic talent of both professional and young emerging artists here in Athens, while also beautifying our great city with a large-scale public art piece that everyone can enjoy. AthFest lets us put our city’s musicians on stage for the community to enjoy and the mural does the same thing for our artists. We’re excited about the mural project and very much look forward to the creativity the project will inspire for youth and adults.”

The organization hosts a public question and answer session to hear from local artists, youth development organizations and businesses interested in applying for this opportunity, on Nov. 16 at 11 a.m. at the Athens Clarke County Library in Multipurpose Room B. Proposals to be the youth serving organization, the professional artist or the business partner with the space to donate are due by Jan. 11 and will be selected by Feb. 8. The mural will be dedicated on June 24, the first day of AthFest Music and Arts Festival.