Main Street DeKalb Inc.’s sesquicentennial mural project has settled paperwork issues and is searching for the right artist.

The mural will be located on the north facade of Eduardo’s Mexican Restaurant, 214 E. Lincoln Highway, and will be unveiled at next year’s sesquicentennial celebration, said Dan Grych, owner of DeKalb Gallery, 161 E. Lincoln Highway.

It will be about 13 by 20 feet and cost a maximum of $8,000, Grych said. The theme will focus on DeKalb’s history.

Now all that’s left is to decide which artist will paint the mural and what he or she will paint.

Artists have until Oct. 1 to submit a proposal of what they want to do, said Jennifer Groce, executive director of Main Street DeKalb, Inc.

The artists are given general suggestions for the mural but they can still be creative, Groce said.

The DeKalb City Council passed the necessary paperwork last month which gave the committee the green light to contract an artist, Grych said.

Grych recently stepped down as the mural volunteer committee leader in order to focus on his business and his family but will act as a consultant whenever called upon, he said.

The mural will hang above the first floor of the building, Grych said.

“Its elevated placement will not make it prone to vandalism and will get people looking up,” Grych said.

Main Street DeKalb Inc. approached Eduardo’s, a 30-year fixture of downtown DeKalb, because it was a top choice for the mural’s placement.

Rosa Balli of Eduardo’s management said Main Street sat down with the restaurant staff to discuss the issue.

“[The mural] is a positive thing for downtown DeKalb”, Balli said. “And we weren’t planning on doing anything with that wall in the future.”

Eduardo’s management and Main Street have worked together in the past with positive results, Balli said.

One member of Eduardo’s staff is invited to join the committee to OK the mural, Balli said.