ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County is actively investing in the local artist community with the “1% for Art” ordinance. This program ensures that 1% of the budget for new county buildings is dedicated to public art installations.
One of the beneficiaries of that program is a new public art display for the county’s animal services facility. Officials hosted an open call for art submissions for the building in December.
What You Need To Know
The deadline to submit to Orange County’s Animal Services art call was Jan. 13, 2026; more than 120 applicants submitted their art
The next public art call is for ‘The Sculptures on the Lawn’ series expected to open late February 2026
The $49 million facility budget allocates $145,000 for art via the “1% for Art” ordinance, with selected finalists receiving a $1,500 stipend
More than 120 applications were received for Orange County’s Animal Services public art call. The call was for artists to develop ideas and proposals for Orange County’s Animal Services building, located at 2769 Conroy Rd., Orlando.
The public art call follows Orange County’s public art program “1% for Art” ordinance, which offers 1% of the total $49 million for public artistic development.
A public art review board, comprising stakeholders, local artists, and industry professionals will select three to four finalists to be supported by a $1,500 stipend and settle on one artist to be awarded $145,000 for a final project submission.
Orange County’s public Animal Services art call commissioned individual artists and teams for indoor and outdoor proposals, including murals, mosaics, and sculptures. The two-story Orange County Animal Services facility is set to be built in 2027.
Orange County Public Art Coordinator Dawn Knight said, “Artists are very often asked to work for free, and we believe that’s not right. So we want to compensate them. The amount of compensation is attached to the size of the budget. But it gives them some payment for their time in developing the idea.”
The Orange County public art call includes a stipend for chosen finalist proposals, while also ensuring high-quality and site-specific proposals are received.
Administrator for the Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs Vicki Landon said, “That 1% budget set aside for taking something from being good to being great is really important.”
“And there’s lots of focus on public art and there on growing public art. You know, as they say, never too much art, right? We can never have too much public art in our community.”
Damon DeWitt is a Central Florida artist and presented his “Dream Team” exhibition at the Orange County Administration Building, a series of life-sized portraits of 1992 basketball stars backed by local support.
DeWitt said he met Landon and Knight and got connected with Orange County, and is an example of the county supporting artists.
“Don’t assume that just because you might be young or you might not have a lot of experience that you can go out there and submit. You know, people want to help artists; people want to support artists,” DeWitt said. “I’m an artist, and they see value in what I do, and I definitely need them to survive, so this is it means just about everything, all right.”
By March 2026, Orange County public arts will have a proposal review meeting where finalists for Orange County’s Animal Services facility will be announced to present their work.
Orange County’s next public art call is the ‘Sculpture on the Lawn’ series, and is expected to open for submission in late February 2026.
For more information on Orange County public art, visit OCFL.net/arts