City of Boston accepting proposals for Play Around the Snowy City competition

The City of Boston is accepting proposals for Play Around the Snowy City, a design competition that seeks ideas for playful, temporary design installations and events throughout Boston this winter. This competition is an initiative of the Public Space Invitational (PSI), a program from the Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) that seeks to make Boston's public spaces more intuitive and beautiful. Proposals are due on December 13, 2018.

In partnership with the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, MONUM is releasing a call for proposals for innovative projects that make Boston's public spaces more fun and inviting during the coldest season of the year. Projects could provide inclusive performances, interactive play, or civic art that incorporates winter elements. Additionally, applicants will be encouraged to submit projects that reduce stress, build lifelong learning skills, and support responsive relationships. Two projects will be selected. Each project must be temporary, implemented by early February 2019, and meet a budget of $5,000.

Play Around the Snowy City builds on MONUM's past work on play. Last summer, in partnership with Boston Public Schools, MONUM selected four school bus stops for a playful redesign in East Boston, Roxbury, Roslindale, and Dorchester. The four winning designs, selected by a jury that included Playworks, the Mayor's Education Cabinet, the Mayor's Office of Resilience and Racial Equity, parents, and community advocates, use play to foster learning, connectedness, positive engagement, and exercise in an everyday setting.

The Public Space Invitational started in 2014 with the aim of making Boston's public spaces more welcoming. It has resulted in a wide-variety of projects, including a portable reading room for neighborhoods and green spaces, a tidal vibraphone on the Congress Street bridge, the activation of the mezzanine of Boston City Hall with brightly colored skateboard tape, a poem/photography series from Boston's Poet Laureate at the Mattapan Branch Library, and a project that completely reimagines street furniture.

Applications for Play Around the Snowy City are due by December 13, 2018.

The Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics in Boston serves as the City's innovation incubator, building partnerships between internal agencies and outside entrepreneurs to pilot projects that address resident needs.

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University's mission is to drive science-based innovation that achieves breakthrough outcomes for children facing adversity. They believe that the science of development provides a powerful source of new ideas focused on the early years of life. Founded in 2006, the Center catalyzes local, national, and international innovation in policy and practice for children and families. They test and implement these ideas in collaboration with a broad network of research, practice, policy, community, and philanthropic leaders. Together, they seek transformational improvements in lifelong educational achievement, economic security, and physical and mental health. For more information on the Center on the Developing Child, please visit: developingchild.harvard.edu