Crowdfunding Campaign Launched for 'North East Grand Rapids: A City of Healing'

$50,000 goal to win matching grant through MEDC's Public Spaces Community Places initiative

LANSING, Mich. - A new series of public art installations and murals will be completed throughout North East Grand Rapids in efforts to improve public health and community connection. This project will be fulfilled through the anticipated success of a crowdfunding campaignthat the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the nonprofit Lions and Rabbits Center for the Arts (LRCFA) announced today, which is being offered through the Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.

If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $50,000 by August 23^rd, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC's Public Spaces Community Places (PSCP) program. For project details and to donate, please visit: patronicity.com/createGR.

Photo credit: Adam Berry

"The positive impact of public art in public spaces is varied and wide reaching; it can improve public safety and connectivity and create culture and conversation amongst community members," said MEDC Regional Prosperity Managing Director Paula Holtz. "We are pleased to support and provide resources for this effort through our Public Spaces Community Places program."

In partnership with East Grand Rapids, Van Belkum Library, Neighbors of Belknap Lookout, and the Creston Neighborhood Association, LRCFA is launching a coordinated series of transformative initiatives that address real wounds in the community's health and wellbeing. These installations include five new storm drain murals and a neighborhood art festival, five crosswalk ground murals along Plainfield Ave, a neighborhood-wide cleanup event, a community "Paint by Numbers" Mural at Van Belkum Library, and two ground murals activating the basketball courts at both Coit Park and Briggs Park (one mural on each court).

Public art and community events are not mere decorative embellishments; research shows that they can improve public safety and foster communal connection. When we transform the visual and sensory experience of our streets, parks, and buildings, we change how people move and interact in these environments. A colorful crosswalk catches your eye, but it also slows traffic, invites more careful attention, and signals that pedestrians belong. A community gathering entertains, but it also creates moments of authentic connection during a time when many still struggle with the isolation and economic hardships that COVID's long shadow continues to cast over our communities.

"The MEDC's Public Spaces Community Places program makes it really easy for ordinary people to be twice as impactful as they otherwise would; we can do six crosswalk murals instead of three, and two basketball court murals instead of just one," said Hannah Berry, Executive Director of LRCFA. "And the best part of it is, the MEDC isn't telling communities what they need or should do. They're watching where people put their own dollars and adding extra support behind what the people want for themselves, meaning residents can collaborate with state-level resources without the usual top-down red tape."

Public Spaces Community Placesis a collaborative effort of the MEDC, the Michigan Municipal League and Patronicity, in which residents can use crowdfunding to be part of the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant from MEDC. Communities, nonprofits and other business entities can apply at https://patronicity.com/puremichigan.

"Art is one of the many ways that people connect with the world around them and one another," said Dan Gilmartin, CEO and Executive Director of the Michigan Municipal League. "These murals will visually enrich the North East neighborhood, making the area more beautiful to see and more pleasant to walk around. They will create positive memories in the people who experience them and a legacy of supporting the arts that will endure for future generations."

The Public Spaces Community Places initiative started in 2014 with MEDC providing matched funding of up to $50,000 for community improvement projects throughout Michigan. As of July 7, 2025, MEDC has provided more than $14.3 million in matching grants. Since the launch of the program, 415 projects have been successful in reaching their goal, with more than $16.3 million raised from 75,888 individual donors. Communities have a 97 percent success rate in achieving their goals and earning matching funds.

About Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is the state's marketing arm and lead advocate for business development, job awareness and community development with the focus on growing Michigan's economy. For more information on the MEDC and our initiatives, visit https://www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at https://www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.

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