Crowdfunding campaign launched for 6102. ART PARK

$5,100 goal to win matching grant through MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places initiative

LANSING, Mich. – Detroit’s NW Goldberg neighborhood will be home to an art park celebrating its rich history and bright future through a new crowdfunding campaign, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and local nonprofit NW Goldberg Cares announced today. The campaign is being offered through Michigan-based crowdfunding platform Patronicity.

If the campaign reaches its crowdfunding goal of $5,100 by June 1, 2019, the project will win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places program. For project details and to donate, please visit: patronicity.com/artpark.

“Resident-led initiatives like the 6102. ART PARK are the backbone of successful creative placemaking,” said MEDC Senior Vice President of Community Development Katharine Czarnecki. “We are pleased to provide resources for this effort through our Public Spaces Community Places program.”

The campaign will commission art installations and murals crafted by local artists, creating a vibrant art park in the vacant parcels. The funding from this campaign will be used to complete the following elements in the art park: wood fencing, landscaping, sculpture, stonework, pathways and benches.

"We are ecstatic to take part in the Public Spaces Community Places program with the MEDC,” said Jordan Yagiela, NW Goldberg Cares executive director. “Having the support of the state will be the difference-maker in allowing us to create a permanent, welcoming community space in Detroit's NW Goldberg neighborhood.” 

When completed, the campaign will establish a space open to the public for community based creative events such as spoken word nights, community clean-ups, picnics and other family-friendly programming.

“Our neighborhood, rich with history – being the home of Motown and where the first shots were fired from the National Guard in 1967 – is often forgotten,” said NW Goldberg Cares Founder Daniel A. Washington. “We are thankful to both Patronicity and the MEDC for helping us share our story, and we are eager for the 6102. ART PARK to come to life.

Public Spaces Community Places is 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.

“Developing creative, welcoming public spaces is key to great placemaking,” said Dan Gilmartin, CEO and executive director of the Michigan Municipal League. “The 6102. ART PARK project will hit the mark on those two points, along with bringing some vacant lots back to life.”

The Public Spaces Community Places initiative started in 2014 with the MEDC providing matched funding of up to $50,000 for community improvement projects throughout Michigan. As of April 1, 2019, MEDC has provided $6,169,441 in matching grants. Since the launch of the program, 200 projects have been successful in reaching their goal, with more than $7 million raised from 38,535 individual donors.

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 www.MichiganBusiness.org. For Pure Michigan® tourism information, your trip begins at www.michigan.org. Join the conversation on: Facebook Instagram LinkedIn, and Twitter.