Crowdfunding campaign supports downtown arts and artists

Kristen Taylor, UICA Development Officer, says she hopes the community gets excited about the potential of a recently announced UICA crowdfunding campaign. "I like to think of this project as hundreds of people all chipping in for artwork. If Grand Rapids is your living room, you'll be sharing ownership with the people in your community of the art you see there every day," Taylor says.

The campaign is a collaboration between the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) and Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI) and is being run on the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity. If successful, the campaign will support a series of public murals in downtown Grand Rapids. If the UICA hits its crowdfunding goal of $10,000 by March 18, the MEDC will provide a $10,000 matching grant.  

Taylor says the UICA has successfully used crowdfunding in the past but this campaign features a new platform that aligns the three organizations' visions for community support. "UICA ran a successful crowdfunding campaign several years ago to purchase equipment for our movie theater, but this is our first time working with Patronicity," she says.

She adds that Patronicity was designed specifically for organizations like the UICA: "We are excited about their (Patronicity) emphasis on creating impact in the local community, and the MEDC's commitment to match our contributors' donations if we meet our goal is fantastic."

The other partner in the project is DGRI. "DGRI has provided funding for 2 - 3 murals in downtown, for which we're currently accepting proposals from artists on our website (uica.org)," she says. Taylor says the process to identify the mural sites is being coordinated with cooperation between the public and private sector. "We've partnered with the city, local businesses, and the state to come up with four potential spots for those," she says. "Herman Miller Cares is supporting another large mural to be created on the west side this summer, and the call for properties and artists for that will be up on our website very soon. The Patronicity campaign will let us put up two more pieces in town; if we meet our goal, you'll see calls for buildings or other kinds of properties and artists for that, too."

Taylor says there a variety of rewards for contributors, from a ticket to a UICA movie to a reception in UICA's loft space for 20 guests. For project details and to donate, please visit: https://www.patronicity.com/project/uicas_exit_space_project#/.

Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs Editor