The Legacy of the Livability Challenge

Hinweis der Redaktion

1. The Challenge told us this: For people to encounter art every day, we must make sure art lives in all parts of the city — downtown and out in our neighborhoods. In 2011, Indianapolis responded with a new program bringing 46 murals to buildings, bridges and overpasses throughout the urban core. Sparked by the Super Bowl then less than a year away from coming to our city, this project called 46 for 46was funded by City dollarsand managed by the Arts Council of Indianapolis in partnership with multiplemembers of our CEOs for Cities cluster.
2. Indianapolis now has 46 more ways — big and small — to be colorful and playful.
3. And our residents enjoy highly visible reminders that art is an important part of everyday life.
4. What can you do with a burned-out 1970s first-ring suburban area anchored by a dead mall but still kicking thanks to an amazing array of mom and pop ethnic restaurants?
5. In Indianapolis, we saw this as fertile ground for change. So the community arts organization I run, Big Car, accepted the Livability Workshop’s challenge to “eat the asphalt.” And, in partnership with many others in our Indianapolis cluster, created… 
6. An oasis of art, nature and beauty…
7. … for everybody.
8. Thousands of everybodies.
9. With many hours of community building …
10. creative engagement …
11. and deep neighborhood investment, we’re helping transform the kind of dead zone thatother cities almost always write off as lost…
12. into a point of pride for ours.
13. In less than a year, we’ve made a place that embraces the diversity of the neighborhood, that demonstrates you can grow a garden of culture, community and creativity anywhere — if you plant the seed and add plenty of water.
14. We’re confident what will blossom next is the neighborhood’s big vision to become a thriving International Marketplace.  
15. For too long, Indianapolis has turned its back on its waterways. Now, more than 100 local organizations are working together to change this through Reconnecting to Our Waterways: The Science of a Better City.
16. Members of this multi-year collaborative initiative recently spent a day with 150 neighborhood leaders and visionaries brainstorming big ideas for better bringing people to clean and beautiful waterways.  This first step was part of an ongoing process gaining steady momentum and energy as we further embrace the waterways that weave our neighborhoods together.
17. Our city will soon see ideas become action, eye sores turn into assets. And the precious resource that is our waterways will once again connect with our lives.