The City of Madison has invited members of the community to leave their mark on State Street and contribute to enhancing the area through a public painting event, according to the City of Madison website.
The event is scheduled for April 21, and will take place on State Street between the blocks of Gorham Street and Hawthorne Court. Volunteers can register for a painting shift between either 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., or noon and 3 p.m.
The event is being organized in anticipation of a pedestrian experiment the City of Madison is conducting throughout Summer 2024 on the lower section of State Street, City of Madison Urban Design Planner Rebecca Cnare said.
The main goal of the event is to encourage pedestrians to utilize the public area of State Street and to attend community events in Downtown Madison, and Cnare was pleased to announce more volunteers signed up for the event than initially anticipated.
The event is in collaboration with the Business Improvement District Downtown in response to what is being called #FlockToState in Summer 2024, according to the city of Madison website.
Sunday’s event is an opportunity for community members to participate in the planning and installation of art along State Street, Cnare said.
“We will be painting hundreds of polka dots of different sizes in six different colors,” Cnare said. “Most of those polka dots will be painted in the morning. In the afternoon, we have an artist who designed some stencils for us and we’re gonna be laying those stencils on top of some of the larger polka dots that are different designs that are sort of indicative of things in Madison.”
Street paintings, benches, planters and six-foot flamingos will be circulated around State Street, Cnare said.
All members of the Madison community are encouraged to stop by State Street to check out the process of painting the street, Cnare said.
“We really hope that the event will introduce people to State Street in a different way,” Cnare said. “We hear from people how exciting it is to walk down the street during events like the Dane County Farmers Market and the Night Market in downtown Madison.”
