Voting now open for University Park Neighborhoods' fire hydrant painting contest
Oct. 5—GRAND FORKS — University Park Neighborhoods invites community members to cast their votes in its
fire hydrant painting
contest.
Throughout the summer, four groups of students, 11 individuals and one team painted fire hydrants on the north end of Grand Forks. Paintings featured a wide variety of designs: from abstract patterns, to landscapes, to gumball machines.
"It got a lot of attention," said Renee Cardarelle, UND professor and UPN faculty adviser. "Everybody was really excited to see them, and really seemed to like them."
Painting has concluded for the year as the weather grows colder, but Cardarelle has hopes the event will return in the spring.
"We don't have all our confirmation on that yet, but we're hoping to continue next year," she said.
From Thursday, Oct. 5, to Sunday, Oct. 15, people can view pictures of the painted fire hydrants and vote for their favorite on University Park Neighborhoods' Facebook page. The fire hydrant with the most likes wins, according to a press release from UPN.
First, second and third place will receive prizes donated from local businesses.
First place will receive a $50 gift card to Urban Stampede. Second place will receive four tickets to River Cinema 15 and a bag of Bully Brew Coffee. Third place will receive a box of Widman's chippers and a $10 gift card to Tea & Crepe.
Many local property owners offered their fire hydrants for painting, including Hugo's, Oxford Realty, the Grand Forks Housing Authority, the Grand Forks Public School District. So many property owners offered their hydrants, in fact, that UPN ended up with more opportunities to paint than applicants to do the painting.
"It's a little intimidating to be an artist," Cardarelle said. "If we continue and do another one next year, we want people to know that you don't have to be skilled. There's lots of different designs you can do that don't require you to be a great artist."
