In 2023, Art x Love was engaged by the City of Green to produce a 16-page activity book for area residents of all ages to share their ideas and vision for the City with the goal of leveraging the data to inform, inspire, and guide future planning and development.

Art x Love explored every street in the City, and worked with local leaders and stakeholders to develop and optimize content for residents and planning. This including testing the activity book with attendees at 2023’s Artapalooza event to gain further insight. Mac used the community’s input to inform his illustration, writing, and design for every page of the Green Visionary.

The Green Visionary Activity Book (free download here) was launched in 2024, and announced to the public in newly-elected Mayor Rocco Yeargin’s State of the City presentation. Art x Love distributed more than 3,000 copies of The Green Visionary across the city, set up drop boxes at highly-accessible locations for residents, and developed graphics and marketing collateral to assist with engagement. Following the launch and distribution of the activity book, Art x Love circled back to Green bi-weekly for the next six months to expand distribution, collect submissions, and participate in community events including:

Green Vision Day at MAPS Museum
Celebration of Education at Green High School
Green Leaders, Future Focused at Central Park Community Hall
Green Visionary: Creative Playdate at Green Branch Library
A Change of Art: A Day of Wellness, Art, and Mental Health at Central Park
Green Visioning at the Green Family YMCA
Green Together at Direction Home

As we continued this work, we were thrilled to hear from residents how beloved the Green Visionary had become, not just as a platform for sharing ideas with the City, but as a beautiful guide to inspire their own exploration and appreciation of the region. Many residents confessed to keeping multiple copies around their home to share with family and visitors. Many confessed that they “liked the book too much to turn it in,” despite our assurances that all physical copies would be returned by mail at no charge. We were also overjoyed to be engaged by the YMCA’s Camp Y-Noah for permission to use one of Mac’s illustrations from the Green Visionary for their camper scholarship fundraising apparel.

In June 2024, Art x Love completed its analysis of the more than 506 pages that were collected and provided the City of Green with a detailed report, comprehensive spreadsheet of responses, and executive summary of findings. This data is now being used by the City of Green, in concert with their own research, to further inform and guide city planning and events.

Perhaps the most beautiful takeaway for us over the course of this project was to see the power of genuine collaboration and service-oriented leaders working diligently to truly listen and address the needs of their community. The Green Visionary perfectly complemented these efforts, and is itself a reflection of this spirit and community. It was manifest throughout this year-long initiative, which made us even more proud of the work, because we could show residents the proof that much of what they had started to tell us in the summer of 2023 was already being addressed by the spring of 2024. That’s a testament both to the quality of the work, but also to the way this project was implemented.

The Green Visionary is turning people’s dreams into a reality, and ensuring every voice is heard in the process.

THE GREEN VISIONARY