The wall of a Midtown restaurant soon will soon become a fresh canvas for a Sacramento muralist.

Hot Italian and the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento have put out a call for artists to submit mural proposals with modern Italian themes. The winning artist will be paid $1,000, plus $500 in restaurant certificates, to design and install an 8-foot by 3-foot mural for the eatery's main dining room.

The space was intended to hold a bicycle. But the restaurant's owners, Andrea Lepore and Fabrizio Cercatore, want to open it up to local artists instead and decided to hold a contest to choose the design, Lepore said.

"It's really open to anyone," she said. "It could be any medium: photography, mixed media, painting. It's up to them and the space."

Local muralists involved with the nonprofit Midtown Murals Project see the contest as a great opportunity for a student, apprentice or other amateur. After factoring in the cost of supplies and other expenses, the artist would likely make about $100 a day for about a week's worth of work, said James Cooper, executive director of SEEART, the umbrella organization that oversees the murals project.

"We're happy to see that people are thinking in this realm," he said. "We'd just like them to think a little more about equitable benefits and not be so one-sided about who benefits."

Artists going through a rough time in this economy might consider the work, too, as long as they retain rights to reproduce their artwork — a major money-maker for artists, Cooper added.

The arts council applauded Hot Italian for hiring an artist, rather than just offering the opportunity to promote their artwork in a busy setting.

"A lot of businesses believe the promotion is enough. Some don't understand the value of design or how much work goes into creating an art piece," said Michelle Alexander, executive director of the Arts & Business Council. "It's really admirable that Hot Italian is treating the artist like a professional and paying them for their work — and also opening it up to the community to maximize what could be considered."

A detailed agreement, including reproduction rights, will be worked out with the artist. The restaurant is likely to be open to an agreement in which both sides could reproduce the artwork as needed, Alexander said.

The deadline for submissions is March 28. Finalists' work will be displayed April 10 at a Second Saturday event at Hot Italian, where visitors can vote on the designs. The mural is expected to be installed in June. For more information, go to www.hotitalian.net/mural or e-mail arts@hotitalian.net.

Photos provided by the Midtown Murals Project.