Bloomberg Philanthropies is quadrupling its Asphalt Art Initiative grants to support traffic safety and public space projects that protect cyclists and pedestrians using asphalt art.
Asphalt art refers to visual interventions on roadways and pedestrian spaces which use vibrant colours to make these spaces more visible and reduce road collisions.
Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the initiative in 2019 for cities in North America and Europe to apply for $25,000 grants. The New York City-based organisation will now award up to 10 cities in Canada, Mexico and the US with grants of up to $100,000 to spend on arts-driven street redesigns.
“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,” David Andersson, a member of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts Team, told 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 supported 90 projects in North America and Europe, including the pedestrianisation of NYC’s Times Square during the tenure of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. This project closed sections of Broadway to cars and opened them to pedestrians, and 2.5 acres of grey asphalt was painted alongside a mural. This resulted in a 35% drop in pedestrian injuries, a 40% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, and Times Square was named one of the top 10 retail destinations in the world, leading to its permanent pedestrianisation.
Bloomberg Philanthropies 2022 Safety Study of 22 asphalt art projects in the US led to a 50% drop in crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists, and a 27% increase in drivers yielding to pedestrians. David says that these findings helped spur the inclusion of asphalt art in US street design guidelines for the first time.
All Canadian, Mexican and US cities with a population of at least 50,000 are eligible to apply, and the project team must include a city agency or department as its principal applicant. Selected cities will receive technical consulting from Bloomberg Associates in partnership with tactical urbanism firm Street Plans Collaborative, and also receive evaluation support 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.”
