Monroe County Capital Improvement Board Seeks Public Feedback on Convention Center Expansion Arts Project

The Monroe County Capitol Improvement Board (CIB) is seeking feedback for themes to be included in the “One Percent for the Arts” project, planned for the Bloomington Convention Center Expansion.

In 2024 the CIB formed a Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District (BEAD) Advisory Group, chaired by Galen Cassady, co-owner and manager of the Uptown Cafe, for the purpose of advising the CIB on a process for expending $520,000 of the expansion’s $52 million construction budget for public artwork, required by the City of Bloomington’s One Percent for the Arts Ordinance, that will manifest in one or more publicly accessible areas of the new convention center.

CIB President John Whikehart stated that, “Formation of the BEAD advisory group was an opportunity to both renew attention to the local BEAD district which is one of only eleven cultural districts in the state of Indiana, and to recruit a very talented group from local eatery and gallery owners, performance space and Wonderlab directors, BLOOM magazine, and the city’s Director for the Arts to make recommendations to the CIB on art installations for the project.”

The BEAD advisory group has created a recommendation committee that includes membership from the advisory committee, the CIB, the Bloomington Arts Commission, and the Indiana Arts Commission to create a process to seek public input and feedback to the CIB and to create a call for artists for the project.

The public may provide feedback for the art design via any of the following modes:

Participate in a public feedback session on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., at Bloomington Convention Center, 302 S. College Avenue.

Participate in a virtual survey available from 9:00 a.m. on Monday, September 15, 2025, through 5:00 p.m. on Friday, September 26, 2025.

The BEAD advisory group’s recommendation committee will also be hosting pop-up tables at other city events to solicit feedback through Friday, September 26, 2025. The first pop-up event will take place at the “Mayor at the Market” table at the City of Bloomington’s Farmer’s Market from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2025. There will also be two 60-minute walking public art tours starting at the Farmer’s Market from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Links to complete the online survey and to RSVP for events are available at: bloomington.in.gov/arts/public-art

All feedback collected about themes for the art design through Friday, September 26, 2025, will be reviewed by the BEAD advisory group’s recommendation committee and considered for inclusion in the call for artists to be released in October 2025. The committee anticipates selecting 5-10 applicants who respond to the call for artists to submit proposals in early 2026 for a large-scale public art installation in the convention center expansion. The public will be invited to provide feedback on the finalists’ designs in March, 2026.

The BEAD advisory group plans to present its recommendations to the Capitol Improvement Board at its public meeting on April 15, 2026, beginning at 3:00 p.m., at the Bloomington Convention Center.