Bloomberg Philanthropies announces $25K funding opportunity for 20 asphalt art projects

Street and asphalt art is a proven way to beautify otherwise bland roadways while simultaneously making them safer. An initiative announced Tuesday by Bloomberg Philanthropies aims to bring more art to North American streets through another round of its Asphalt Art Initiative. Twenty individual grants of $25,000 each will be distributed to selected communities beginning in the fall. Each awarded city will receive technical consulting from Bloomberg Associates in partnership with the firm Street Plans Collaborative along with the funding.

“The Asphalt Art Initiative has transformed roadways that are hostile to pedestrians into urban highlights that bring the local community together,” said Kate Levin, who leads the arts program at Bloomberg Philanthropies as well as the Cultural Assets Management practice at Bloomberg Associates. Levin is the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. “This new round of projects will continue the initiative’s mission to use public art for social cohesion, enhancing neighborhood identity and giving the power to shape local urban landscapes to people in those communities.”

This latest round of grants follows a series of grants distributed between 2020 and 2022 that funded 64 projects in 41 U.S. cities and 22 in Europe.

A statement about the initiative says the Asphalt Art Initiative was created in response to a “growing number of cities around the world embracing art as an effective and low-cost strategy to improve street safety through interventions on crosswalks, intersections, plazas, and other transportation infrastructure,” the statement says.

An Asphalt Art Safety Study that was completed by Bloomberg Philanthropies last year found that street art halved crashes with pedestrians or cyclists, reduced all crashes by 17%, and decreased the rate of accident-related injuries by 37%. Simaltaneously, the rate of drivers yielding to pedestrians increased by 27% when asphalt was painted. Dangerous situations decreased by a quarter. Real-world examples highlighted by Bloomberg Philanthropies expand on those findings: Street art projects in Baltimore, Md. and Tucson, Ariz., more than doubled the share of drivers yielding to people crossing the street; in Kansas City, Mo., artistic redesign of an intersection known for dangerously speeding drivers reduced traffic speeds by 45%; and in Durham, N.C., the percentage of people who felt unsafe crossing fell from 85% to only 6% at one intersection where art was painted, according to the statement.

“As the Initiative expands, more cities will have the chance to implement arts-driven street designs that not only improve the quality of our lives—but actually save them,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, principal for transportation at Bloomberg Associates and former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.

Besides the safety aspect, asphalt art is a comparatively inexpensive and accessible way to brighten urban landscapes.

“In addition to safer streets, the program creates vibrant public spaces, fosters a city’s interagency collaboration, and increases each city’s capacity to work with artists as well as community groups on creative projects,” the statement says. “The 64 projects supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies completed to date have transformed a combined 360,464 square feet of streetscape with artwork while engaging nearly 7,765 residents and 178 artists in the design and installation process.”

More information about the street painting can access Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Asphalt Art Guide, which provides case studies and best practices from cities around the world. More information about the initiative and how to apply for a grant can be found at AsphaltArt.bloomberg.org.