Here’s what you’re supposed to do with those new Can Do Signs around Charlotte

It’s barely been a week since 11 signs were installed in public spaces around the city, and already they are motivating people to take selfies, do a downward-facing dog pose with their dogs, “play a foot symphony” and other actions.

The signs are called Can Do Signs, and they were designed to look like your average city signage, with a little extra flair.

Sarah Hazel of the City of Charlotte is the founder of the project (along with her City of Charlotte project team) and she won a Knight Cities Challenge grant of $27,900 to make it happen. The Knight Cities Challenge assesses new ideas that will turn the 26 communities where Knight invests into more vibrant places for those who live and work there.

“We worked with the Center for Active Design out of NYC and found that positive signs are proven to increase both pride in community and the feeling that your City cares about you,” said Hazel, the Assistant to the City Manager – Special Projects. “Pretty big impact for something small and fun.”

Her project team came up with a bunch of whimsical ideas through community engagement like posting on the Nextdoor social network and going to neighborhood meetings. The sign you can find on Little Sugar Creek Greenway was submitted by a Charlottean who bikes to work on the greenway.

“We wanted the signs to look sort of like they were government signs as part of the appeal and surprise of the whole thing,” said Hazel, who designed the signs with Kirk Lohry of DAWA.

The hope is that people will interact with the signs — maybe do a dance, engage on social media, or show the city what they love to do in their public spaces.

“The idea was a way to connect people with government in a fun way to show that not only do we care,” she said, “but we have a sense of humor.”

Find the signs:

This story was originally published May 22, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Here’s what you’re supposed to do with those new Can Do Signs around Charlotte."