The Arts & Culture Alliance of the Gaithersburg Parks, Arts & Recreation Corporation (G-PARC) is pleased to announce the launch of the “Paint the Plow Art Project.” It is a community outreach program that invites groups to paint a City snow plow blade with original artwork.

In addition to being visible in full service during the winter-weather months, the blades enhance public awareness, promote safety, and foster greater appreciation & understanding of the City's arts & culture programs. We showcase the painted plows at City events like Jingle Jubilee & our Snow Road-eo.

In the fall of 2021, we invited the Benjamin Gaither Center, the Gaithersburg Youth Centers & our partners from Starbucks to paint a blade. The design & message needed to bring awareness to the overuse of salt on roads. Adding too much salt on roads & streets can damage metal & concrete, contaminate drinking water, damage roadside vegetation, and accumulate in streams, lakes, reservoirs & groundwater, harming aquatic plants & animals. By bringing awareness to our community of this issue, we expect to open the conversation on how to diminish the use of salt & educate on alternative methods.

In 2022, the Robertson Park & Olde Towne Youth Centers are painting two more plows each, bringing the total number of plows with environmental messaging to eight. They expect to be finished by the end of October, in time for the winter weather.

For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at 301-258-6350 or email GPARC@gaithersburgmd.gov.