Through its Public Art Challenge, Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced two-year grants of up to $1 million each to six cities for temporary public art projects that address a civic issue and demonstrate close collaboration between local artists and city government.

Selected from more than two hundred and thirty applications, the winning cities are Gary, Indiana, which will transform a vacant downtown building into a cultural hub that showcases visual and culinary arts; Los Angeles, which will commission multidisciplinary artworks and public programs focused on the city’s environmental concerns; Spartanburg, South Carolina, which is planning art installations on public spaces in five targeted neighborhoods with the aim of building on an annual event that promotes crime prevention efforts, police-community partnership, and neighborhood camaraderie; and Albany, Schenectady, and Troy, New York, which proposed a collaborative project to illuminate up to three hundred vacant homes over several months and hold a regional summit on vacant homes and abandoned buildings to engage local residents, prospective buyers and investors, and policy makers.

Launched in October 2014, the challenge is open to cities in the U.S. with at least thirty thousand residents. While Public Art Challenge grants are intended to cover costs associated with the development and execution of the project, they do not fund 100 percent of project costs and, instead, are intended to catalyze a strong, committed consortium of supporters, both public and private.

"Great public art strengthens cities by making them more exciting and attractive places to live, work, and visit," said Bloomberg Philanthropies founder and former New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. "Public art can also help us to see urban challenges in a new light — and imagine new solutions. All of the winning projects are excellent examples of this, and each can have a lasting impact."