City Council should vote this month on whether to ask the State Department of Transportation for $2,359,000 for the next phase of outdoor design work in the Neighborhood of the Arts - ARTWalk II.

ARTWalk is a work in progress. The most recent addition, a series of cool bus stop shelters - "Art in Transit" - along University Avenue was completed last summer.

But ARTWalk's new phase reaches beyond the immediate borders of the Neighborhood of the Arts, says Thomas Warfield. Warfield is president of the nonprofit group which has steered the creation of the city's "outdoor museum."

"This is an enhancement project that continues to allow for the creation and appreciation of art, only now we are connecting to other nearby neighborhoods," he says.

The urban art trail that began along University Avenue between the George Eastman House to South Goodman Street will be extended to the Rochester Museum & Science Center on East Avenue and further north to the School of the Arts and the Memorial Art Gallery. ARTWalk's signature street art will be added to sidewalks and crosswalks and the fronts of both the RMSC and the MAG will undergo major transformations that will include outdoor "welcome stations."

This time around, outdoor art and design could be opened to world-class artists in addition to local artists. The Neighborhood of the Arts is an urban renewal success by every standard, says City Councilmember Bill Pritchard. The area has had one of the biggest jumps in assessed real estate values in the city, he says.