Oviedo Reopens Centennial Mural Contest After AI Submissions, Requires Human-Made Designs

The City of Oviedo restarted its centennial mural contest after officials discovered what they described as a deluge of submissions that appeared to be generated by artificial intelligence rather than created by human artists, a move that stalled a planned approval at the Feb. 16 City Council meeting. Councilmember Alan Ott warned of the reputational risk, saying, “If we paint this in Center Lake Park we will be mocked,” as councilors and CRA board members raised concerns about entries that bore the hallmarks of AI-generated designs.

The mural project was funded by a $7,000 allocation the Oviedo Community Redevelopment Agency Governing Board approved in October for a call-to-artists campaign to paint the back of the boat house at Center Lake Park in celebration of the city’s centennial. The contest received fifteen eligible applications under the theme “The 100th Anniversary of the City and beyond: Oviedo Past, Present and Future.” The selected artist was to receive $3,000, with an additional $4,000 earmarked to cover materials and equipment.

The Public Arts Board had reviewed and ranked the entries and identified a top-ranked design that was slated for Council approval on Feb. 16, but board members and councilors flagged multiple submissions as suspicious. One example cited during discussions was a proposed design featuring a bird-headed turtle; broader criticism described many of the submitted designs as appearing AI-generated. The board’s position was unequivocal: “The board was in agreement that the mural should be designed by a human, not an algorithm.”

In response, the city announced it would reopen the contest and add an explicit requirement that submitted designs be human-made, summarized in source statements as “designs need to be human-made.” The immediate approval of the previously top-ranked entry was deferred as officials moved to revise the rules and accept new or resubmitted work under the human-authorship requirement.

Several key details remain unresolved. City officials have not specified how they will verify that future submissions are human-made, whether any entries have been formally disqualified, or if the prior top-ranked selection has been rescinded. The reopened call has not yet released an updated deadline or a published verification process for entrants.

For now, $7,000 remains allocated to the centennial mural at Center Lake Park and the city has signaled a clearer standard: the centennial artwork must originate with human hands rather than an algorithm as Oviedo seeks a mural that represents its past, present and future.