CIVIC and Braddon are set to liven up with the announcement of the City Renewal Authority’s Placemaking Grants.

The  authority’s  chief executive officer Malcolm Snow said this year’s grants would  be more important than ever in bringing Canberrans back to the city after months in lockdown.

The four successful applicants were funded to create two festivals, a magpie sculpture and a series of large-scale projected artworks thanks to funding from program.

The grants, which are funded by the City Centre Marketing and Improvements Levy have been awarded since 2018, provide about $200,000 each year for  projects designed to make Canberra’s city centre a better place to live, work and do business.

“The key to creating great places is giving people more reasons to spend time in them. With restrictions lifting, we wanted to support projects that will bring people back to the city centre in 2022,” Mr Snow said.

The projects funded are: Yes!Fest, with  Braddon’s rainbow roundabout at its heart, and featuring LGBTIQ+ performers, musicians and artists; the second Canberra Street Dance Festival from  April 9-10, promoting engagement in hip hop and street culture; “Big Swoop,” a  2.4 metre tall, 3.5 metre long sculpture in Garema Place of a magpie eating a chip, by Yanni Pounartzis;  and “Reveal Braddon,” three large projected artworks created and commissioned by Visumotus interactive timed to align with next year’s Enlighten festival.