NORWICH – Several city merchants are taking part in a public art project, bringing a noticeable change to many storefronts as a series of decorative blue banners appear on the facade of commercial buildings throughout the heart of the city.

The hand-stenciled banners are part of a community art project sponsored by the Christian Neighborhood Center (better known as The Place) through the Chenango County Council of the Arts, the Norwich Merchants Association and in-kind donations from Golden Artist Colors. Hanging the seven-foot banners on the facade of city storefronts was the final step in a summer-long project titled “Vibrant Rivers.” For months, artist and muralist Kathy Creutzburg has worked with kids from The Place in designing, drawing, stenciling and painting each banner – each of the total 12 banners paying tribute to the county’s rich heritage of rivers and the Chenango Canal that once ran through the city.

For the last ten years, Creutzburg, a New York City native, has worked with The Place in developing collaborative public art projects with local kids. This year, their project drew the attention of the Council of the Arts when the council presented The Place with the Russell J. Perlman Award of Excellence along with $2,000 in decentralization grant funding administered through the council for the agency’s proposed 2012 summer project. Under the leadership and guidance of Creutzburg, kids have seen how to create their own stencils, deliberate various designs for a large-scale art project and they hand-stitched ribbons that decorate the bottom corner of each banner.