Asphalt Art Initiative
Art has the power to transform cities and make their public spaces safer and more vibrant. The Asphalt Art Initiative provides guidance and funding to cities around the world for visual art interventions on roadways, pedestrian spaces, and public infrastructure. The program assists cities looking to use art and design to improve street safety, revitalize public spaces, and engage their communities. Previous grant rounds supported 64 projects in the U.S. and Europe, installing from 2020-2023. The current application round for cities in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S., closed on June 12, 2023, and grants will be awarded in the fall.
The Asphalt Art Initiative responds to the growing number of cities around the world embracing art as an effective and relatively low-cost strategy to improve and enrich their streets. The initiative focuses on “asphalt art,” including visual interventions on roadways (intersections and crosswalks), pedestrian spaces (plazas and sidewalks), and vertical infrastructure (utility boxes, traffic barriers, and underpasses).
Learn more about specific projects from the Asphalt Art Initiative asphaltart.bloomberg.org
Podcast
How We Can Make Streets Safer With Asphalt Art
Asphalt Art Guide
In October 2019, Bloomberg Philanthropies released the Asphalt Art Guide, which Bloomberg Associates produced to help guide cities in this work. The guide features more than two dozen case studies highlighting successful plaza and roadway art activations around the world and a how-to section for cities interested in undertaking their own projects.
Top photo: Local residents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania work to create street murals as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative.