HOW WE GOT HERE

As a longtime Downtowner, I watched our local mom and pop restaurants shutter and creative arts darken due to the crippling pandemic. Then summer came, people started venturing outside again, albeit socially-distanced, but a semblance of community returned.

I rode my bike through the hood, happy and proud that these establishments popped up outdoor spaces, but also worried that the outdoor season was short and restaurants would need to do everything they could to maximize this moment.

I also realized these popup patios were simply ‘blank canvases’. And since we are blessed to live Downtown, rich with artists, designers, photographers, architects and art students creative types, what better than pairing our local artists with our neighborhood restaurant’s ‘blank canvases.’

And so the NEIGHBORHOOD CURBSIDE CANVAS PROJECT was born: a volunteer, neighborhood-recovery effort to drive interest, energy, foot traffic and business back to these establishments and give local artists a public forum.

Hyper-local efforts like this, (where it’s neighbor-helping-neighbor), are the only real way we're going to get through this pandemic. In 6 weeks, 13 successful new examples of what happens when art + commerce can come together to bring a neighborhood together.

Our next mission: Bring the NEIGHBORHOOD CURBSIDE CANVAS PROJECT to every part of our great city.