Art Volunteer Opportunities: Beautifying Your City

Art volunteer opportunities are a great way to get involved in your community. If you want to be creative in your city, seek beautification projects! You will likely find your city needs help painting murals, decorating community gardens, or sprucing up the walls of community buildings.

Improve Local Schools

A bright, well-maintained school can provide kids with a beautiful, safe space where they can thrive. Talk to your child's school about physical improvements, such as painting the hallways bright colors or planning a mural in the lunchroom.

Improvements in neighborhood schools can also be an opportunity for building community relationships. Even if art volunteer opportunities begin with individuals directly involved with the school—students, parents, teachers, and staff—the circles can widen. For instance, local businesses can donate supplies and community groups or after-school programs can help with the workload.

Beautify Public Spaces

Contact your alderman, community organization, or public works department to find out about beautification projects in your city. In larger towns, there are often mural programs already in place. Some initiatives look for volunteers to help restore or maintain existing murals, while other movements want fresh ideas for art that will captivate community members.

Once people are engaged, it's easy to see how volunteer projects can be chances for personal development. Participating in these projects and taking on responsibility and leadership positions within the planning process inspires pride in their public spaces and encourages people to protect spaces from vandalism and deterioration. Murals can even teach local folks about a historical event or past town hero or heroine.

Art Volunteer Opportunities at Local Parks

Public parks can enhance the quality of life in a city by serving as a green space for families and kids, and they often need a lot of hands to help them maintain inviting and beautiful spaces. Look for nearby opportunities for community sports, park cleanup days, community gardening, and historic docent programs.

Plus, if you ask, there might be opportunities to get out the paint and brushes, too. The Rockaway Barrier Beautification Project throughout the New York City park system created the longest mural in the city, covering over a mile and a half of road. This project was only possible because of the help of community members.

Of course, you need permission to change public spaces, schools, or parks. Be sure you are working with the local organization in charge, and look for groups that prioritize local residents. Art beautification projects are about working together to build a stronger community, not the desires of one individual to paint a wall!

What beautification projects are you working on? Let us know! Tweet us using #GoodMatters.

Image sources: Mali Anderson | Pixabay

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