SPRING LAKE, Mich. — The village of Spring Lake secured its first public art project, raising more than $36,000 in under two months.
The campaign, which began on Dec. 21, 2018 , logged more than 200 donors to surpass the goal of $30,000. That secured a matching fund from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
The money will be used to fund “Art in the Park,” an initiative that calls for multiple murals and sculptures along Lakeside Trail. The first mural is planned for the back of a building on W. Savidge Street next to Whistlestop Playground.
The website shows 203 donors, but many more people contributed to reaching the goal, said Angela-Stanford Butler, director of the Spring Lake Downtown Development Authority.
“There were groups that got together and donated, and those went well beyond the 200,” Stanford-Butler said. “We went well beyond the involvement of 200 people by far, and it’s still happening. It just feels tremendous.”
The village also received fundraising help from the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, which suggested the project as a means of improving community policing through environmental design.
Village leaders are planning an open call to artists and hope to select one by April after a public engagement process. Work is expected to begin in May and be completed in September, Stanford-Butler said.
“We would love to see this trail become more of an art walk on its own,” she said. “It creates a destination and a point of pride for the community. We’re really expecting it to become a destination for Spring Lake.”
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