Bloomberg Philanthropies provides $100,000 grants for art-focused street redesign projects
Comments Off on Bloomberg Philanthropies provides $100,000 grants for art-focused street redesign projectsSource: Zag Daily
Bloomberg Philanthropies is expanding its Asphalt Art Initiative grants, increasing funding fourfold to support projects focused on traffic safety and public spaces that protect cyclists and pedestrians through asphalt art interventions.
Asphalt art involves visually striking designs on roadways and pedestrian areas, using vibrant colours to enhance visibility and reduce collisions.
Originally launched in 2019 for cities across North America and Europe, the initiative offered $25,000 grants. Now, Bloomberg Philanthropies, based in New York City, will provide grants of up to $100,000 to 10 cities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. for arts-driven street redesign projects.
“Incorporating art into street safety improvements affirms that city streets are used not only by drivers, but by pedestrians and cyclists too, and should be designed to accommodate all users safely,” said David Andersson, a member of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Arts Team, in an interview with Zag Daily.
“Based on the success of the initiative’s past projects, we have increased the grant size to $100,000 to invite even larger and more ambitious traffic safety and public space projects with the potential for catalytic impact.
“We want to support interventions that transform signature streets, create dynamic new pedestrian plazas, or enact other similarly transformative roadway redesigns.”
To date, Bloomberg Philanthropies has backed 90 projects across North America and Europe, including the pedestrianisation of Times Square during Michael Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor. This project closed sections of Broadway to vehicular traffic, opened them to pedestrians, and transformed 2.5 acres of asphalt with vibrant murals, leading to a 35% drop in pedestrian injuries, a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and Times Square being named a top 10 global retail destination.
A 2022 Bloomberg Philanthropies Safety Study of 22 asphalt art projects in the U.S. found a 50% reduction in crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists and a 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians. These findings contributed to the inclusion of asphalt art in U.S. street design guidelines for the first time.
All cities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. with populations of at least 50,000 are eligible to apply for the grant. Project teams must include a city agency or department as the lead applicant. Selected cities will receive technical support from Bloomberg Associates in collaboration with tactical urbanism firm Street Plans Collaborative and evaluation assistance from transportation firm Sam Schwartz.
“The selection criteria for applicants includes a project’s potential impact, viability, and quality and visual interest. Projects should be ambitious arts-driven street redesigns that address a meaningful and specific safety challenge, engage community members, and include metrics to measure success.”
