Mayor Friday Ellis and the City of Monroe are excited to announce a community art project in conjunction with the Northeast Louisiana Arts Council that’s kicking off in the city. The Candy Company Mural Project will feature 13 local artists whose works will be displayed on panels located on the side of the old Ouachita Candy Company.
The city purchased the Ouachita Candy Company, located on Walnut Street in downtown Monroe, back in October of 2021. The building will be remodeled through a public-private partnership into a mixed-use facility that will include residential and retail property. The Candy Company Mural Project is a way to highlight local artists while at the same time, bringing more public art installations to the City of Monroe.
Back in June, we made the call for artists to submit their mural designs and a committee narrowed those submissions down to the following artists: Jason Byron Nelson, Lissy Sanders Compton, Shykeria Smith, Keagan Vaughan, Brooke Foy, Inique Harris, Morgan Tanner, JaCera Francois, Ashley Greer, Callan Thornton, Rae Tedeton, Ashley Alford Dollar, and Daniel Myers.
The artists will begin work no later than August 15, 2022 and will finish by September 15, 2022. We want to thank the Monroe Police Department for providing barricades to help keep our artists safe from traffic.
A ribbon cutting will be held following the completion of the artists’ work; a follow-up email will be sent out detailing that event.
Progress pictures are available on the city’s Facebook and Instagram pages.