2025 Placemaking Grant Awards
Explore Gwinnett is thrilled to announce it has awarded $100,000 in grants through the Gwinnett Creativity Fund’s (GCF) inaugural Placemaking Grant.
By providing financial support for projects that enhance public spaces, the Placemaking Grant encourages vibrancy and activity while serving the community’s functional, aesthetic and social needs.
Funding was awarded to eight placemaking projects, with the majority of grants supporting initiatives in unincorporated Gwinnett—expanding access to the arts in historically underserved areas.
For Award Recipients: Grant Timeline and Reporting Instructions
“It’s incredibly rewarding to support projects that use creativity to uplift and transform shared spaces,” said Lisa Anders, Explore Gwinnett’s chief operating officer, who leads the Gwinnett Creativity Fund. “Inspired by the words of poet John Dryden, ‘mighty things from small beginnings grow,’ this grant cycle prioritized small to midsize projects, with a focus on areas with limited access to the arts. From murals to decorative crosswalks, these projects help strengthen a sense of place while sparking pride connection and momentum.”
Placemaking is the art of revitalizing public spaces in creative, engaging and accessible ways, often integrating art, culture and design to celebrate local history and tradition, foster community connections and transform everyday areas into vibrant, inviting spaces.
$30,000 to Art in Motion for a 2,600-square-foot mural at Singleton Park in Norcross, part of a larger park revitalization effort.
$3,500 to the City of Duluth for a bioswale and landscape feature designed to collect and filter stormwater in a high-traffic pedestrian area adjacent to Coleman Middle School.
$10,000 to the City of Peachtree Corners for a pocket park in Technology Park featuring a gathering space, trail, fitness equipment and more.
$12,500 to the City of Suwanee Public Arts Commission for a reading grotto at the Gwinnett County Public Library entrance in the new Town Center Park.
$11,500 to Hudgens Center for Art & Learning for an 864-square-foot wall mural at the entrance to the School of Fine Arts.
$10,000 to the Norcross Public Arts Commission for the multi-phase “Norcross Forever” utility box wrap project featuring postage-stamp-inspired designs celebrating the city’s history.
$15,000 to Sugarloaf Community Improvement District (CID) for two decorative crosswalks totaling 1,643 square feet, continuing the existing Synchronicity Mural design at the Sugarloaf Parkway and I-85 underpass.
