New artwork is coming to the downtown core. City council has agreed to give the Downtown Association $20,000 to support the Art in the Alley project. The money is coming from a fund that the city has set aside for downtown beautification.
The idea for the project was first brought up at a committee meeting on September 4th. Downtown Association Executive Director Wendy Bosch said previously that she hopes the art will make people want to come downtown again.
“When people feel comfortable you’ll see more foot traffic and with that comes more of the public coming downtown. We want to bring people downtown again and show them what the heart of Grande Prairie has to offer.”
The artwork will be located at the back entrances to businesses that have been affected by this year’s downtown construction. Each piece would partially be paid for by the business owner and matched by the Downtown Association up to a cost of $5,000 per project.
The association says they would like to have all the artwork up by July 1, 2019, but Bosch says she is hoping to have a few pieces up before winter comes.
When and where local businesses can apply for the project has not been released yet.