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How Ashland SWCD uses art to teach stormwater management

Katie Ellington

August 21, 2020 |

Richland Source |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Ashland, Ohio

As a way to raise funds and awareness for stormwater education, some cities are turning rain barrels into an art exhibit. Rain barrels catch water as it runs off rooftops, which can be used later for watering plants. It also reduces the amount of water that picks up pollutants and is carried into waterways. The Ashland Soil and Water Conservancy District in Ohio featured 10 rain barrels painted by local artists, allowing residents to vote and bid on their favorite design. Their efforts were inspired by a similar event in Indiana where they’ve auctioned 100 barrels for residents to use at home.

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The growing global movement to end outdoor advertising

Steve Rushton

August 03, 2020 |

Equal Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: France

There are 29 Resistance to Advertising Aggression (RAP) groups working in France to ban outdoor advertising such as billboards. The groups worked with the mayor in the city of Grenoble to cancel a contract for 326 outdoor ads. While not all contracts can be changed, RAPs are particularly focused on stopping digital signs because the energy required to run them is harmful to the environment. Groups in the United Kingdom, São Paulo, New Delhi, and Tehran have won campaigns to remove billboards and other outdoor ads, which research shows reinforce sexist and capitalist ideologies.

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Minneapolis theater community uses stagecraft skills to support businesses of color in the aftermath of protests

Ashley Vaughan

June 23, 2020 |

CNN |

Multi-Media |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Minneapolis, Minnesota

University Rebuild brings together theater members in Minneapolis who are not working due to Covid-19 to use their skills in support of the Black Lives Matters movement by helping communities clean up, make repairs, and create infrastructure to gather safely. Volunteers, numbering more than 100 within the first week, used set design and construction skills to help around 200 businesses impacted by protests following the killing of George Floyd. Windows and doors are boarded up and then prepped for murals painted by local artists and leftover materials were used to build stages for Juneteenth celebrations.

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Mural project brought Black voices to a shuttered State Street

Will Cioci

June 23, 2020 |

Wisconsin Watch |

Photojournalism |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Madison, Wisconsin

A “rapid response” mural project transformed shuttered storefronts with vibrant messages of pride, perseverance, anger, justice, and unity. The project was funded by Arts in Public Places Looking Forward, a new organized formed to support artists impacted by Covid-19. An open call was posted for interested artists, and the project prioritized artists who had been affected by racial violence and injustice. More than 100 commissioned murals, and many more works of graffiti and public art, focused on support for the Black Lives Matter movement or called on an end to police misconduct.

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Drive-by-Art Turns the City Into a Gallery You Can See by Car

Marissa Gluck

May 23, 2020 |

Los Angeles Magazine |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States

Artist and activist Warren Neidich organized drive-by art exhibits in two cities to help unemployed artists and communities feeling isolated during the Covid-19 related shutdown. Inspired by drive-by birthday, graduation, and other celebrations during the Covid-19 pandemic, participants found the art exhibit inspiring and thought-provoking while providing much-needed distraction during difficult times. Almost 130 artists in LA exhibited their work so it could be seen from cars, even including some live music, poetry readings, and puppet shows performed from artists’ proproperties.

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Philadelphia Based Artists Fill the Walls With Hope, and Public Safety Know-How

Emily Nonko

May 13, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

In Philadelphia, a project called Fill the Walls With Hope has come together, pairing public art with hyper-local information. The initiative, which has collaborated with various local organizations, came together as a response to COVID-19 and the need to get out timely, factual public safety messaging. Run by volunteers, the project pays local, participating artists, and has been working with local news outlets to help creatively engage residents.

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Las Vegas Mural Project Brings Color to Businesses Closed By Coronavirus

Sonja Swanson

May 08, 2020 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Las Vegas, Nevada

The City of Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency is providing funding for businesses closed by COVID-19 to board up their windows with public art. Offering up to $2,000 per business, its purpose is to help support local artists who have become unemployed, and bolster public safety by discouraging break-ins. So far, more than 30 businesses have participated, with no mention of ending the program soon.

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Greensboro's Art-Dotted Greenway a Respite During COVID-19, and an Economic Engine After

Cinnamon Janzer

April 28, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Greensboro, North Carolina

The Downtown Greenway in Greensboro was already underway when the coronavirus hit and it has turned out to be quite the respite and economic boon. The Greenway draws visitors in with trails, greenways, public art, local businesses, and "the first grocery store to open in 30 years in downtown.” $8.5 million was invested in the project, but it has already brought in $215 million in revenue. The Downtown Greenway was created in partnership with the city and nonprofit Action Greensboro, and while it's currently being used with social distancing, it'll still be there when the quarantine is over.

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How 17 Outsize Portraits Rattled a Small Southern Town

Audra Burch

January 21, 2020 |

The New York Times |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Newnan, Georgia

The small Southern city of Newnan, GA considered themselves to be a fairly open and accepting place. This attitude was shattered when 17 huge portraits of ordinary people who make up Newnan were hung across the city and prompted a racially-tinged backlash. The purpose of the portraits was to open up a dialogue around the diversity in the city, but it also exposed new and hidden racial tensions. The portraits were ultimately allowed to stay up, but the conversations surrounding the issue are ongoing.

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With Paper Monuments, New Orleanians Draft The City's History Themselves

Zoe Sullivan

November 19, 2019 |

Next City |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New Orleans, Louisiana

Bringing the community into conversations about commemoration opens new ways to present public history. The Paper Monuments project in New Orleans asked residents to draw monuments that they would like to see replace the four Confederate monuments removed in the city. The project brought organizations like the New Orleans Arts Council and New Orleans Public library together with community members to re-imagine new narratives, installations, and representations of local history.

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