‘Beautify’ing Green Bay’s Olde Main Street – One Mural Masterpiece at A Time
“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.” – Danny Kaye
If you happen to be walking through the Downtown or Olde Main Street Districts in Downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin and randomly spot naked walls and buildings like:
Or this…
Or even this…
Don’t fret: They’re poised and ready for future masterpieces of color and creativity, with some splashes of talent, positivity and life all around.
Consider, for example, these next walls, just around the bend, whose brick, stone and plaster have already served as the canvases to artistic glory.
And this one…
That’s because Olde Main Street, Inc. has recently synced up with Beautify to transform outdoor wall spaces into public art galleries in ways that empower artists, champion social responsibility, revitalize areas and instill community pride. And having helped thousands of artists paint murals in thousands of spaces worldwide, Beautify is the epitome of art transforming communities… from the inside out.
It’s why Downtown Green Bay’s ‘Olde Main Street, Inc.’ crew teamed up with Beautify to give emerging and established artists an innovative technology platform to add color to the spaces of the historic arts district, where over 12,000 cars typically pass through on any given day.
The districts offer a diverse art scene and inclusive community, blending creativity with business and the spirit of collaboration—and a fun vibe. Just ask any of the Packers fans in the following 2020 pep rally photo. 😉
It’s home to artists of all colors, backgrounds, skills and styles—from graffiti and street art, to fine and sculpture art as well as oil and texture painting. All artists are welcomed.
In the past the district hosted events like “Lunch with Morty” to provide a more immersive artistic appreciation experience.
And just like every artist needs a blank canvas, they now have one (or many!) because of Olde Main Street’s partnership with Beautify.
We caught up with Sally Ebeling, Program & Business Development Specialist at Downtown & Olde Main Street, Inc. and asked…
“Why Beautify?”
“We’re always looking for innovative ways to ignite passion and conversation through art, turning it inside out – literally! We found that art can either create beauty or enhance it, meaning it can breathe life into dilapidated buildings and revitalize communities, or spotlight historic landmarks. It can also increase foot traffic, drive business and inspire people.
“Partnering with Beautify helps us get art on a bigger stage and leverage a platform that taps into all types of artists—from local and emerging, to international and high-profile. It connects the arts to the community; we haven’t seen anything quite like that before. Every time I drive through Main Street, I love seeing people taking pictures in front of the wall murals. That’s community pride!”
“Why now?”
“These past couple of years, we’ve had a really up-and-coming art scene and we don’t want COVID-19 to stop all that momentum. Right now, people don’t want to be indoors at public places and are looking to do stuff outside, so we’re providing those experiences. We offer self-guided public art walks through town that showcase all our street art, sculptures and murals in authentic ways that show off the community voice and vibe.”
“Your top two favorite Beautify features?”
#1 - “We loved how Beautify’s technology platform houses everything in one place—from the artists’ portfolios and murals, to the bidding process, requirements and mockups, to the administration things we don’t have to worry about. And we can just send a link to artists with all our information. It really is so easy.
#2 – Since we’re all about people helping people, we also love Beautify’s give-back program that donates 15% of the revenue they receive from our projects back to our organization to use for the arts and 1% to its own non profit that helps underprivileged communities.
Now, back to the topic of naked walls…
Olde Main Street has already selected a slew of building facades in both districts, now eagerly waiting to be connected to artists who will raise their paintbrush high in the air—and Beautify the space.
Learn more about how the Beautify platform helps local organizations at: https://www.beautifyearth.com/local-organizations