2025 Placemaking Grant and Creative Pool Applications Open
Published on January 21, 2025
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Jan. 21, 2025) – Applications are being accepted for the 2025 Placemaking Grants and the 2025 Creative Pool. Through March 7 at 5 p.m., residents are able to submit themselves for the Charlotte Urban Design Center-led grant opportunity and creative pool.
In preparation for this grant cycle, the Urban Design Center has updated the Placemaking Hub, which has all the tools needed to learn how to enhance your community. If you have a project in mind that doesn’t get selected for a Placemaking Grant, the hub and a new guidebook outline the steps to complete your project even without outside funding.
The Placemaking Grant Program, now in its sixth consecutive year, is an effort to give neighborhoods, individuals and businesses the opportunity to transform their community with a vibrant project of their own creation. The Urban Design Center (UDC) has a pool of $150,000 available and grants will be between $5,000 and $25,000. The Placemaking Grant Guide has additional information.
The Placemaking Creative Pool Program helps match local creatives with project opportunities throughout Charlotte. Project managers can select a specific artist from the Pool or interested artists can vie for the project based on their own ability and capacity. The Pool consists of a wide range of creatives who manage, create and implement original compositions. The application page has additional information.
“The Placemaking Grant Program and Creative Pool led by our Urban Design Center are shining examples of connecting residents to the resources and opportunities needed to build a more vibrant Charlotte while preserving the character of our great city,” said Alyson Craig, director of the Planning, Design & Development Department. “It is a privilege for the city to have access to a Creative Pool of such depth and talent, and it is a joy to have the ability to fund and guide residents as they bring projects to life in their own neighborhoods. I’m excited for the updated Placemaking Hub to make processes even easier.”
Placemaking Grant Project Types:
- Wall murals.
- Street murals.
- Painted traffic circles.
- Painted crosswalks.
- Street furniture.
- Signal cabinet wraps.
- Bus stop improvements.
- Pop-up plaza/park.
- Community agriculture initiatives.
- Street parklets.
- Bike parking.
- Playscapes.
- Swings.
- Sidewalk dining.
- Programming and events.
- Green infrastructure.
Interested applicants are invited to attend an upcoming in-person Q&A session Thursday, Feb. 13, from 5:30-7 p.m. or attend a virtual Q&A session Thursday, Feb. 20, from noon to 1:30 p.m. Both sessions are drop-in style, so applicants can join whenever is convenient for them. The in-person session will be held at the UDC’s studio at 1507 Camden Road.
The UDC launched the Placemaking Program in 2018 to transform underutilized public spaces by using urban design and placemaking. Get a glimpse at the impactful work of the program and the artists’ lives it has touched through a video celebrating its fifth anniversary.
More information about placemaking can be found at the Placemaking Hub, the online resource center for community members looking to complete projects in their neighborhoods. The Placemaking Hub streamlines city processes, promotes community collaboration and accomplishes public space goals for everyone.
Visit the Placemaking Grant Program and Creative Pool Program web pages to apply for each of the programs and find out more information. Stay up to date on the UDC by subscribing to its newsletter and following @clturbandesign on social media.