Anderson One of 25 Recipients of Bloomberg Art Grant
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Anderson has been selected as one of 25 cities in North America to receive a Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative grant, aimed at revitalizing public spaces to better engage residents.
Ground zero for the Anderson project is the corner of Tower Street and West Market Street, an area already planting seeds for an arts community downtown. The new project hopes to improve all facets of the area around that intersection.
The Electric City Team - composed of City of Anderson Director of Strategic Projects Mary Haley Thompson, Electric City Transit Manager Keith Moody, Anderson Artist Shea Abramo, and Zoë Hale Hale, who serves as logistics and data coordinator – will begin working on building a public consensus and strategic vision for the $25,000 project in January. The final work is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2024.
In cooperation with the city, Abramo will offer artists direction and engage other artists and the local Southwood Academy of the Arts to participate in the installation and project as a whole. Abramo will also finalize mural elements on the walls of business and government entities surrounding the intersection, along with those that face the way finders.
Hale will coordinate with Anderson County library, nonprofits, a youth group that will canvas the nearby neighborhood, as well as design the survey instruments, and provide meaningful visualizations of the feedback.
Installation of the project will be executed safely in coordination with the city, coordinating the use of sidewalks and crosswalks in the area.
This intersection is currently traversed by people riding bicycles, walking, people with mobility aids such as walkers, rollators, canes and wheelchairs, alongside vehicular traffic. This effort plans to tie into current and planned Whitner Creek revitalization efforts. Along the sidewalk there is also an intentional use of way finders marking a 10-minute walking trail.
This project will seek to improve street safety, particularly for commuters on foot or bike, as well as to encourage pedestrian, scooter and cyclist activity, and improve perception of the area. One possibility is to add a dedicated lane for cyclists and add other indicators to "share the road" for all modes of transportation.
Inclusion and involvement of persons with physical disabilities is another goal of the project. Anderson County has a higher rate of disability than the state and the national average, which is reflected and disproportionately represented in the nearby low-income neighborhood.
The area is in a Census Bureau-defined block group with a high poverty rate and a high rate of people with disabilities (both > 30 percent). The area includes Hope Missions of the Upstate, the Lot Project, the Good Neighbor Cupboard, and is near the Haven of Rest, Salvation Army of Anderson and Favor of the Upstate.
Actual work on the project is set to begin after the community input period, set for January-March.
Visit asphaltart.bloomberg.org to learn more about the Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative and stay tuned for updates as Anderson’s project comes to life in 2024.