Art (M.A.G.N.E.T.) Public Art Project

About “Art (M.A.G.N.E.T.)

“Art (M.A.G.N.E.T.)" is a public art project created by Operation ARTS Foundation to encourage creative community interaction through art! During the global pandemic, galleries were forced to close their doors for the indefinite future. Inspired by Stacy Milrany’s “Free Little Art Gallery” in Washington State, our team is setting out to continue to bring art to our community. Our vision is to place tiny art galleries in our local parks that showcase handmade art, sharing stories of Maryland Heritage. Each gallery will have signage stating our “Make Art, Take Art” policy to encourage others to create art and share their story. This project will bring beauty, education, culture, engagement, and tourism to the area. Our goal is to place this project in different high-traffic locations including, the town of Edmonston at the Veterans Park, Gateway Arts District, and any other interested locations. We hope to create two prototypes and install them in two parks that can be scaled to additional locations in the future. This project would allow us to measure engagement, share stories of our community, and educate others in an interactive way that will also increase tourism.

Other locations have seen high success rates with similar projects. The “FLAG” project has had hundreds of pieces on display in three months according to CNN. “The Little Free Library” which originally inspired Stacy Milrany, was started in 2010 by 2 artists from Wisconsin and has grown to over 100,000 libraries in 90+ countries across the world. In Baltimore, there are 23+ locations that utilize the “take a book or leave a book,” policy with more locations to come. We hope to make the same level of impact here in Prince George’s county!

Our organization plans to cross-promote our project through multiple marketing strategies. Each location in the “Art M.A.G.N.E.T.” project will be adorned with a plaque on the front stating key information about the project, in addition to acknowledging the support of our partners including, Maryland Milestones, PGAHC, The Town of Edmonston, and The Gateway Arts District. It will also have a QR code to create a marketing funnel to help push engagement with the social media page and the weekly themes. We will document the creation process through video storytelling that will be used on social media and on our community platform show The Operation ARTS Show to be aired on public television. Through our website, public relations, email newsletter, social media campaigns, and video documentary, we will be able to effectively promote the project to the community. By utilizing innovative marketing strategies we plan on building up momentum and creating a united community voice through organized storytelling.

Want to join us in making a difference? We are raising money to benefit this project and any donation will help us reach our goal. We are estimating the overall project's cost to be a minimum of 10k. Any contribution to this cause will make an impact on our community no matter how big or small. Our organization raised $9160 out of the goal out of $10,000 to be able to bring this public art project to its fullest potential to include free art supplies, construction, and video documentary. The miniature art galleries are pending construction at Gateway Arts Center in Brentwood, and Veterans Park in Edmonston of Prince George's County. Follow this journey of creation on our gofundme, and help us reach our goal.

More information about Operation ARTS Foundation inc.:

Our mission is to develop the creative economy. Our organization encourages better business practices & economic growth for all. We lay the foundation for profitable, collaborative relationships between artists, businesses & the community by streamlining opportunities. We create financial stability for artists by providing them with the resources to help them succeed.