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Rad Women Project highlights historically important women around downtown Grand Rapids

Posted at 11:36 AM, Apr 19, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-19 11:36:18-04

The electrical boxes around downtown Grand Rapids are getting a historic makeover. Once drab and grey, they now don colorful portraits of historically significant American women as part of a project launched by Downtown Grand Rapids Inc., Lions & Rabbits Art Gallery, and other partners.

The Rad Women public art project will allow for 27 local, female-identifying artists to paint electrical boxes around the downtown Grand Rapids area.

The project was inspired by the New York Times bestselling book “Rad American Women A-Z” by Kate Schatz. In the book, each letter of the alphabet represents a Rad Women that influenced our history. Each electrical box will host a portrait of the 26 women featured in Schatz's book – plus one more electrical box to introduce the whole project.

Once the project is complete, Schatz will take part in a "Rad Women Happy Hour" at the Pyramid Scheme on May 7 and a "Rad Kids" workshop for families at the Grand Rapids Public Library on May 8.

There will also be walking tours led by Grand Rapids Running Tours where people can visit all 27 electrical boxes and learn about each rad woman and the artists behind the portraits. There will also be an option for self-guided tours through the GR Walks App.

For more information about the project, visit downtowngr.org. For details on all the upcoming Rad Women events, check out Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.’s Facebook page.