Previous Years’ Ideas

Community Skillshare Center

Idea:

We need a place to teach and learn from each other! Where people from all walks are welcome and can find a friendly face to point them in the right direction when they need resources. Maybe the city has a space downtown that is currently unused that they could lease for 1 year for $1 [Read more…]

Benefit:

This would give our citizens a place to exchange ideas and grow together, to share our history and culture while becoming a support system (real neighbor helping neighbor action!). Out of this will come events and collaborations to make our city even more culturally vibrant!
Location:

Downtown / JAM, OldIdea.

Conversation Tables

Idea:

Area restaurants, cafeterias, waiting rooms, hospitals and offices would invite individuals or couples, to share a table and talk to each other. Conversation menus could be provided. This breaks down barriers, fosters inclusion and promotes kindness.
Benefit:

When we invite strangers around us to engage in conversation we may discover we have more in common than we thought and this leads to greater understanding and tolerance for those who appear different. Especially for individuals who are alone ( and perhaps disenfranchised) at a restaurant or in a [Read more…]

Location:

Citywide, OldIdea.

Design a Better City Flag

Idea:

Host a community based, community judged design competition to come up with a better city flag for Lowell. While the current one has nice symbology and meaning, it is largely a sendup to the Lowell of the 1800’s. It features the seal (which was created in the 1800s) and was adopted in 1960. A more [Read more…]

Benefit:

A flag only starts life off as a flag. A flag that is really, truly embraced finds its way into other places. Public art, murals, signage, bumper stickers, event tattoos. To that end, it is important to design with that in mind. Judges should have perspective in art, design, business, [Read more…]

Location:

Citywide, OldIdea.

DIY Movie – A Pop-Up Film Production

Idea:

A movie production where everyone can participate! We set a date and write a short script for a five-minute film. We publicly advertise the date, and anyone who wants to take part comes that day and takes on roles of film production. Cameraman, director, actors, audience, stage crew, etc. We would make sure to have [Read more…]

Benefit:

Come together as community, people learn new skills in a fun way, activate and bring attention to an unused space, maybe be multilingual to reflect Lowell's diversity, and we have a five-minute video as a memento to share and promote Lowell's creativity.
Location:

Citywide, OldIdea.

Dog Day Afternoon

Idea:

An Afternoon dedicated to all Dogs. Dogs for Adoption will be the stars of the Day, and will be highlighted with Profiles on all Social media weeks leading up to the Event. There will be parade inside Mill No.5 to kick off the event with the Stars for adoption marching down the hall to the [Read more…]

Benefit:

Finding Forever Homes for Dogs. Educating the public on Rescue Dogs. Local artists and services vending to show their dog products and gaining more customers for their businesses.
Location:

Back Central, OldIdea.

Domestic Violence Survivor Gallery of Hope

Idea:

Basics: How do we bring attention to a domestic violence survivor’s (who are POC/LGBTQ+/Immigrant/Refugee) journey towards healing and hopefulness? How do we get people to learn more about this widespread yet still private issue? How do we get the public to 1) learn 2) to feel empathy 3) to feel inspired enough to organize around [Read more…]

Benefit:

Survivors: POC Survivors get to share their story of hope. The community has a chance to learn about domestic violence as well as what resources are available. City/Neighborhood: Maybe in future years, we could have the project be a way to gather funds to revive these spaces in Lowell as [Read more…]

Location:

Don't Know, OldIdea.