Two arts projects to change how visitors and residents view your town

If you stand in the right place and line up the courthouse, you will see all of the other buildings that were there in 1920. Sign by Doug Mackenzie.

Two art projects that are kind of cousins caught my attention as tools for small towns.

First is from reader Doug Mackenzie. It’s metal sign that, if you stand in the right place and line up the courthouse in the center, it shows the other historic buildings from the town of Marshall, North Carolina. (See the photo above.)

Any small town could make a similar metal sign to show former local landmarks, or just how things have changed over the years. Good for residents and visitors alike.

Second is from Witt Siasoco, called the Mobile Tracing Unit. It invites people to trace the outline of an actual building in their neighborhood of Minneapolis. (See the photo below.) Learn more about it at Drawing on Minneapolis.

I tried it out at the recent AMIBA Conference. I found it clever and engaging. It’s a way to get people thinking and talking about the buildings in their neighborhood, a not-scary tool for getting local people involved in planning.

How have you used art to change how people view your town?
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The Mobile Tracing Unit by Witt Siasoco invites people to draw outlines of local buildings and at the same time think about the buildings all around them.

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About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.