Fort Dodge officials working to curb litter downtown are turning to an unconventional resource: university trained artists and designers.

The city has received a $10,000 Arts Build Communities grant that will enable it to work with students and faculty from the Iowa State University College of Design to address garbage and recycling downtown.

The grant is from the Iowa Arts Council. No matching funds are required, according to Carissa Harvey, the senior city planner.

Trash bins seem to be overflowing and there aren’t very many garbage cans for pedestrians to use downtown, Harvey said.

“Trash has become a problem,” she said.

Main Street Fort Dodge, the Fort Dodge Fine Arts Council and the Fort Dodge Public Art Coalition will be part of the partnership to address the downtown trash issue.

The money is to be used during the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2019, and ends June 30, 2020. Harvey said representatives of the local group will be being working on the initiative in the next couple of months, while work with the Iowa State group will begin in the summer.