Now that State College Borough Council has a new municipal building, members are looking for a way to decorate it.

The council wants to appoint a committee of local artists to decide how artwork could best be displayed in the building. The committee would report its ideas back to the council for discussion, council member Tom Daubert said.

The committee would be important because it is necessary for the council to have an expert opinion on how to decorate the building, council member Jean McManis said. The people appointed to the committee would have experience displaying art, and their opinions should be the top priority for the council, she said.

"I want to respect the committee; every person on the committee has a lot more experience with this than I have," she added.

There are many possibilities of what type of art will be displayed, McManis said. Displays could include sculptures and items of historical significance, she said. No one is really sure what type of art will be displayed at this point, McManis added.

The council also has artwork that will move with it from the old municipal building and will be displayed in the new building, Daubert said.

Another type of art that has been proposed to the council is a mural that would be painted on the walls of the building.

Michael Pilato, of Pilato and Karabash Studios, brought a suggestion for such a mural before the council. Pilato's vision for the lobby wall in the municipal building would be a painting of the four seasons in State College. Each season would depict a different event in State College — First Night for winter, an Easter egg hunt for spring, Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts for summer and the patriotic parade started after Sept. 11 for fall, Pilato said. The scenes would be viewed from a child's eye view and would include police, fire fighters and other borough workers, Pilato added.

A draft of the mural should be done for the grand opening of the borough building Feb. 22 and will be displayed in the front lobby of the building at that time, he said.

But the council might be hesitant to take such a permanent step in decorating the building. Murals might not be appropriate artwork for the municipal building, Daubert said. The council would have to deeply consider changing the building in such a permanent way, he said.

"I don't think I'd like to have anything that isn't moveable or changeable," Daubert added.

However, Pilato believes that such artwork is necessary to enhance the beauty of the building.

"We need something downtown instead of a white wall," he said.

McManis stressed that the council's taste and preferences in art should have nothing to do with the decision of what art should be displayed and how. All members of council have different tastes in art, and their personal tastes should not influence the future of the building, McManis said.

"We council members are perishable — we come and go; what we do with the building is permanent," she added.