All Ideas

Community Mural Project

Idea:

Invite the entire community to take part in painting a vibrant mural in our city! his would be a collaborative “ground floor” mural led by an artist but involve community for conceptualization and possibly painting. A location and interested owner will need to be determined, potentially near the DIY Lowell Warehouse space.

Benefit:

This would benefit the community by elevating the look & feel, inspiring creativity and community bonds.

Location:

Centralville, Citywide.

Yuletide Market

Idea:

An idea I think that would thrive in Downtown Lowell is creating a Yuletide Market. The first or second weekend in December, close down Middle Street or another spot in downtown Lowell, with the cute cobblestone roads, and invite all the vendors from Western Ave. Brush Arts etc. and have mulled wine and hot chocolate [Read more…]

Benefit:

Downtown Lowell in the winter is so cute time with all the lights, wreaths, and old brick buildings, I think if this is done right, it could turn into a holiday destination in MA.

Location:

Downtown / JAM.

How to Fix Bus Stop Signs

Idea:

I saw this video and thought it would make an interesting and beneficial project for Lowell. LINK to video is here. The video is called “How to Fix Bus Stop Signs: Uytae Lee’s Stories About Here” from CBC-Vancouver on Youtube. The gist of it was zip-tying poster board signs to bus stops, but the signage would include [Read more…]

Benefit:

Shows critical information about where busses are going, which bus to take, and elevate busses as an important mode of transportation.

Location:

Citywide.

Nintendo Nights

Idea:

Put together a weekly or monthly series of events where people can bring picnic food (or we invite food trucks and get an alcohol permit for a beer garden if we’re ambitious) and there are one or two projectors set up in a locked case hooked up to old video games. They can eat and [Read more…]

Benefit:

Would help revitalize a park and bring people together. If it was advertised, maybe people would come from out of town to experience this unique Lowell idea.

Location:

Downtown / JAM.

Flags of the Acre

Idea:

Add flags and art banners to the lampposts along Upper Merrimack Street between City Hall and University Crossing. The art would be inspired by the folks of many backgrounds, races, and ethnicities of the Acre. If there’s enough interest, we could also add history/fact signs similar to the Visualize Lowell’s Black History tour.

Benefit:

It would encourage people of different types to come together around the art and flags. It would add color and vibrancy to the walking route between downtown and the university and also show off the unique character of the Acre.

Location:

Acre.

Merrimack Street Rotating Cultural Exhibit!

Idea:

Work with the Adult Ed center across from the Library to install an outdoor “rotating cultural exhibit.” This would include a couple of structures that could be chained to the fence that would hold items behind plexiglass, frames to be attached to the fence that could hold informational panels, and perhaps some planters for small [Read more…]

Benefit:

This would be a low-cost way to celebrate Lowell’s diversity and create some visual interest and excitement connecting downtown with “Upper Merrimack Street” walking toward UMass Lowell. If the materials are high enough quality and draw a lot of attention, perhaps it would also contribute to interest in redeveloping abandoned [Read more…]

Location:

Acre.

Sidewalk Poetry (With stamps or stencils)

Idea:

The Public Works departments of Cambridge, MA and St. Paul, MN have a Sidewalk Poetry Program that annually requests residents to submit original pieces of poetry to be stamped into fresh cement. A group of individuals then reviews the poems and select a few to be used. The cost of this program is minimal: the [Read more…]

Benefit:

This would serve a dual purpose: engaging pedestrians —including visitors– with art and inspiring Lowellians to submit their original work. Furthermore, the poetry/ public art will have a lasting impression since the sidewalks could exist for decades.

Location:

Downtown / JAM.