New London — The city on Friday named the artists selected from more than 80 proposals to partake in a citywide public art project to paint four downtown murals.

New London received a $126,000 state grant in March, one of seven communities to receive funding for the City Canvases Project, a one-time initiative aimed at enhancing public spaces through art.

The artists were chosen by a committee headed up by Hygienic Art and include artists from the region, students from the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts and teenagers from the city's middle and high schools.

"We had over two days of meetings, our Artists Selection Committee deliberated, reviewed and discussed the proposals, and in the end selecting really brilliant works that will make a major impact on the visual image of our city,'' said A. Vincent Scarano, president of the Hygienic.

"Songs of Our City," by Qimin Liu and Mark McKee, will be painted on an 80-foot long wall on the side of Caruso Music. Student interns from Lyme Academy will assist in painting images of performing musicians.

"Hard Hat Painters," by the artists Mike McNabney and Troy Zaushny, who are calling themselves "Team McZaushny," will depict historical marine elements with the city's future as a center for diversity, creativity and tourism. It will painted on the Carriage House building.

"Faces of New London: One Place, Many Cultures'' will include portraits painted from photographs of typical New Londoners and one student from each grade in the New London middle and high schools. Local artists will be recruited to paint one square each in their own style.

The work will be led by Russ Kramer, a Mystic artist who depicts marine life. Artists Jeff Weaver and Katie Fogg will also be part of the team.

The fourth mural, "Cabinet of Shells," will be painted by Peter Good on the Water Street Parking Garage. The work will feature digital images of shells from Indonesia, India and Mexico, which will be printed on vinyl and applied to the outside wall of the garage.

"Wall to Wall: The New London Mural Walk," when completed, will include a six-block walking tour of nine murals.

Work on the murals is expected to begin in the next two weeks and be completed by June 30.

k.edgecomb@theday.com