The Grand Valley Business Improvement Area (BIA) has invited businesses within the community to participate in a public art campaign.
In late April, the BIA approached local businesses to recycle old bikes by painting them bright colours and showcasing them around the community with baskets of flowers attached. Aimed at drawing more residents and visitors to the downtown, the bicycle initiative highlights the community’s creativity in a unique way.
The campaign began May 19 and will run until Oct. 15.
Soon after the BIA placed the colourful bikes around town, local residents began participating in the initiative by painting their own bikes and placing them in private gardens in both the urban and rural parts of Grand Valley.
Adapted from a similar initiative in Orillia, the BIA is very active and eager to bring tourism to Grand Valley and to better develop the local economic scene.
“As a breath of fresh air, it’s wonderful to see the BIA take on an initiative that provides local businesses with an opportunity to draw more visitors downtown while further actively engaging our rural and urban communities alike in a wonderful community art project,” said councillor Elizabeth Taylor, member of the Grand Valley BIA.
“It’s clear that the merchants we have participating in the BIA are stepping forward as community leaders to enhance local economic development, downtown beatification, and assisting in the development of a platform for tourism in Grand Valley,” she added.
