Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is sharing the transformative effect on local neighborhood communities through the university’s unique SCAD SERVE Paint Our Parks public art initiative. Since launching in 2021, SCAD SERVE Paint Our Parks has beautified and enlivened 16 basketball courts and play spaces in the university’s hometowns of Savannah and Atlanta by creating larger-than-life murals conceptualized by an elite roster of talented SCAD alumni artists.
Envisioned by SCAD President and Founder Paula Wallace, SCAD SERVE is a university initiative that brings together the SCAD community to address neighborhood needs, listen to local leaders, and create meaningful design solutions that improve quality of life. As part of SCAD SERVE, Paint Our Parks serves the citizens in SCAD’s hometown communities of Atlanta and Savannah through the university’s vast network of supremely talented students and alumni to revitalize shared recreational spaces with vibrant and scenic murals. To date, SCAD SERVE Paint Our Parks murals amplify spaces at 16 parks, recreational centers, and school playgrounds across the state. Through Paint Our Parks, deserving communities and neighborhoods have been uplifted, unified, and forever changed through the shared power of public art and altruism that are at the heart of the SCAD university community.
In the collaborative spirit of SCAD’s ethos, each Paint Our Parks mural project is led by a SCAD SERVE Alumni Artist to conceptualize a unifying mural design for each neighborhood. These murals are unique works of art for each local neighborhood and school community, all with defining colors, symbols, iconography, and meaning to each location’s sense of place. SCAD SERVE Alumni Ambassadors oversee teams of volunteers composed of SCAD students, faculty, community advocates, and local citizens to fully realize these murals and bring these vibrant works to life.
“The places where we lounge, laugh, and play. The spaces where we stroll, reflect, and reinvigorate. Our parks are where we find our best selves — and SCAD SERVE’s Paint Our Parks public art initiative, invites our neighbors and friends to enjoy the work of accomplished SCAD artists,” said SCAD president and founder Paula Wallace. “SCAD SERVE Alumni Ambassador artists — whose murals enliven streetscapes worldwide— lead each Paint Our Parks public art initiative to realize shared visions of positivity, wellness, and joy, and uplift neighborhoods from Atlanta to Savannah.”
Through this Paint Our Parks initiative, the university has made a significant investment to revitalize play spaces in Atlanta and Savannah. To date, SCAD’s financial contributions for Paint Our Parks totals over $667,000 which include restoration of park surfaces, new top-of-the-line basketball goals and nets, and painting materials. Paint Our Parks has engaged over 2,000 volunteers from the SCAD community and local neighborhoods and utilized over 2,000 gallons of paint to realize these larger-than-life works of art. Over the past 18 months, SCAD has worked with local partners including: Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Atlanta Public Schools, City of Savannah, Savannah Chatham County Public School System, Savannah Jewish Educational Alliance, and Greenbriar Children’s Center.
To commemorate this initiative, the university has produced a short film showcasing all 16 beautified parks with testimonials from community leaders, talented alumni artists, educators, and K-12 students highlighting how the Paint Our Parks initiative has positively impacted their local community now and for years to come. The film can be viewed at scad.edu/scadserve.
