What a delight it must have been for the Minot City Council, meeting as the committee of the whole, to hear and approve requests from organizations attempting to beautify downtown.

Minot Street Art Movement plans to install pet waste bag dispensers at various locations downtown which would be painted with artwork and attached to street light poles and street sign poles. They also want to “yarn bomb” benches, light and sign poles, trash cans, trees and bike racks. The yarn art is created off-site and is wrapped around the pieces of infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the Minot Lions Club City Beautification Project proposes to take locally themed artwork and place it anti-graffiti vinyl wraps to be placed around traffic signal and street light cabinets.

City officials and all residents should be thankful for this effort to bring a little touch of art and ambiance to Minot’s downtown. Congratulations to the Lions and Minot Street Art Movement for their efforts and for their dedication to making Minot a more attractive place to live and do business.

Council member Josh Wolsky expressed it best: “I really like what I am seeing. We have invested a tremendous amount in downtown Minot and I think there’s a need to create that vibrant atmosphere. Projects like these will very much contribute to that.”

Indeed they will.

Hopefully additional, similar efforts will manifest in the months and years ahead to continue to bring more color and life to the streets of downtown Minot.