Rural and Community Art Project Grants
ACHF Arts Access ACHF Arts Education ACHF Cultural Heritage
Grand Rapids Arts will stage events in a downtown parking from 4 - 8pm on the Fridays of August 7 and September 4. Goals include engaging the public in creative activities, using an art event to fill a parking lot, promoting walking from one section of downtown to another, stimulating community thought on how to best use a vacant space for creative placemaking. Count of number of adults and children who took part in the activity. Count of number of adults and children who observed the activity. Collection of people's ideas on how to turn a parking lot back into paradise." Collection of ideas about how to get people walking around downtown using art and culture. Artists' evaluation of the experience."
The outcomes are as follows: Number of adults participating in the activity: 167 adults and 3 children. Number of adults observing the activity: 5. Suggestions for parking lot: bean bag toss, roller derby demo, garden, hay bales, music and fresh food, trees, farmers market, green space, bike rack, skating rink, monthly outdoor tap room, put things on table for puttering, statuary, Christmas market, Christmas trees decorated by groups, outdoor restaurant, bouncy house, food truck once a week, grass. Suggestions for people to walk around downtown: luminaries, develop empty parking lot, restaurant/bar, ticket red light runners on Hwy 2, marked pathways with benches and flowers, educate drivers, pedestrian bridge. The suggestions were placed on a sticky wall next to the activity. Artists' evaluation: It was difficult to get the passersby to actually participate in making a sculpture and doing improvisation. They wanted to observe an arts' event.
Other, local or private