Help make The Acre Lowell’s most colorful neighborhood!

The Acre is a diverse community full of music and food from every corner of the world. Those who call The Acre home are connected by a sense of pride, strength and resiliency. MassDevelopment and Selbert Perkins Design are working in collaboration with Mosaic Lowell and the City to develop an Art and Placemaking Strategy to guide projects over several years. Click here to respond to the RFQ Application Form. Deadline is July 23, 2023.

What is Placemaking?

Placemaking is a participatory process for shaping public space that harnesses the ideas and assets of the people who use it.

What is the goal of the Acre’s placemaking initiative?

The goal of the Acre’s placemaking initiative is to develop and foster a community-based placemaking framework and unified vision for art & placemaking that can be used by multiple stakeholders over many years. It will:

Highlight the stories and culture of The Acre’s residents
Improve perception and increase excitement about this neighborhood
Provide guidelines to integrate art into new and existing infrastructure

What kind of public art & placemaking projects are you looking for?

We have designed a open-ended process that will allow for creatives and residents to be involved at a capacity that matches their skills, interests, and experience level. Each project will have a total budget (inclusive of artist time & materials) of $1,000 – 5,000. Some type of projects that would work well for this initiative are:

Fence art
Sidewalk, street, or other murals
Sculptures
Bridge installations
Mosaic art
Poetry installations
Lighting or technology-based art
Printed graphics or photography
Furniture, structures, or parklets

Is there a theme for the artwork?

The public art & placemaking projects should incorporate one or more of the following:

HONOR the past and present
IMPROVE existing perception of The Acre
BUILD on community pride
REPRESENT multi-lingual population
MAKE artwork an interactive element of urban streets
RENEW the neighborhood for a bright future
CREATE a positive perception of The Acre
CONNECT to Lowell at large
CELEBRATE diversity and culture
ENERGIZE the community with color and light

Projects should be inspired by and incorporate these themes and visual representations of the Acre neighborhood:

ENERGY
COLOR
COMMUNITY
ABUNDANCE
DIVERSITY
GRIT
MOVEMENT
ENERGETIC
TEXTURE
WARM
BOLD

Where will projects take place? Do I need to have a location identified?

All projects must take place within The Acre neighborhood, ideally centered within a 5-7 minute walk of the Upper Merrimack corridor (Merrimack St, extending between Dutton Street/City Hall and Pawtucket St/University Crossing).

You do not need to have a location identified already, but certainly appreciate if you do!

Do you have to live in The Acre to apply?

No! Priority will be given to artists who have a connection to The Acre and/or live or work in Lowell, but will not be limited to.

Art in the Acre