Moira Villiard

2019 Early-Career Project Grantee | $8,000

Street Murals in Central Hillside

Villiard will partner with Zeitgeist to develop and implement four street murals / crosswalk designs reflecting ideas of place, culture, and identity as expressed by the surrounding communities in Duluth’s Central Hillside.

In this project, Villiard is using her collaboration in each neighborhood as a chance to bring contemporary history together with precolonial ideas and concepts via two means:
1) Elders: Villiard will chat with elders to hear their knowledge of each neighborhood, and incorporate their perspectives into each piece.
2) Concepts: Villiard will draw from concepts and apply them to the neighborhood feedback. For example, one mural draws from an Indigenous concept—7 generations in a healthy community—for the theme of the piece, and is represented through 7 generations of people gathered at a bus stop. In the door-knocking sessions, residents spoke extensively about the presence of multi-generational households and the energy at the bus stops.

Forecast has been offering early-career artist grants supported by Jerome Foundation since 1989. In addition to funding, Forecast is dedicated to providing professional development and learning opportunities designed to assist emerging artists as they experiment/ hone their practices, and cultivate careers in the field. Forecast mid- and early-career grants are designed to support independent projects, leadership development, professional development, risk-taking, multidisciplinary approaches, and collaborative problem-solving in the field of public art.