Downtown DeWitt got more colorful this weekend with the help of a local artist and a whole lot of community support.
It started with a goal: bring art to downtown DeWitt.
"We had an arts committee that got together and talked about different things that we might be able to do in our city," DeWitt Mayor Susan Leeming said. "And they came up with this idea."
So, why crosswalks?
"Well we always want to have our crosswalks designated so people know they're in a crosswalk so that was the first thing," Leeming said. "And we've seen this done in some other communities as well. We thought, what a perfect way to involve the community, get some people down here, downtown."
Cue artist Tracie Davis of St. Johns, whose design was chosen from among several submissions.
"It all kind of started with the sunrise over there and I thought, 'Okay, we'll contrast that with more of like a night scene,' which you see right here behind me," Davis said. "And then to carry the other crosswalks i,n we brought the circles in and just kind of made it whimsical, high-energy, something that we hope to bring joy to the people of the community."
Saturday more than 50 community members joined Davis in painting the crosswalks.
"On Saturday, she had a big tent here with lots of paint buckets and paint brushes and a chart that showed the different numbers and the little kids could come up and say they wanted to paint blue and she would give them a number four and a little brush to go along with it and they'd go look for fours and start painting," Leeming said.
But, it wasn't just for kids.
"We had people here my age and older and they were having fun doing the painting as well," Leeming said. "I had fun doing painting."
"The people of DeWitt have been amazing," Davis said. "The community that came out to paint were so much fun and everybody had such a great time."
Leeming said she's hoping the crosswalks will stay intact for five to 10 years, and there is a possibility of a similar project in the future.
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