ArtsSupporting Public ArtAsphalt Art Initiative

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 90 projects in the North America and Europe. The latest grant opportunity closed January 31, 2025 for cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

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).

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Mazatlán, Mexico, transformed 10,000 square feet of a complicated intersection into vibrant and safe public space.

The “School Block” project in Tirana, Albania, reclaimed a lane of parking around an entire city block containing four schools, providing safe open space for students and their families.

Kansas City, Missouri is revitalizing and beautifying underutilized public spaces and improving street and pedestrian safety.

Norfolk Artist Mensah Bey drew inspiration from West African Adinkra symbolism to transform a 100 foot long section of Bland Street into a work of art. Photo credit: City of Norfolk

A series of murals at three prominent intersections in the riverfront area of Saginaw, Michigan is encouraging pedestrian traffic and connecting the Old Town with newer developments in the city's park system.

Community members in Pittsburgh's Friendship neighborhood reconfigured an intersection to make it easier to navigate.

In Columbus, Indiana, a new intersection mural was painted to improve safety and bring increased foot traffic to a neighborhood business district.

The 18,000 square foot ``Locomotion`` mural in Reno, Nevada, designed by Brad Carney creates a downtown public plaza and community event space. (Photo credit: Mike Higdon/Downtown Reno Partnership)

London-based artist Yinka Ilori reimagined 11 crosswalks on Tottenham Court Road as part of the city’s “Let’s Do London” campaign in fall 2021.

Artist Gabriella Marcella transformed a highway underpass at the entrance to Anderston Railway station in Glasgow, making the area more inviting and easier to navigate for pedestrians and bikers.

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.

Download the guide

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Top photo: Local residents in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania work to create street murals as part of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Initiative.