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This new map helps you find Sidewalk Joy anywhere in the world! [1]

['Jennifer Sandlin']

Date: 2025-08-13

Do you need more joy in your life? If so (and honestly, who doesn't?), check out this cool project by Portland, Oregon-based artist Rachael Harms Mahlandt, who is busy curating a worldwide map of what she calls instances of "Sidewalk Joy." What's that, you ask? On the project's website, Harms Mahlandt defines Sidewalk Joy:

Sidewalk Joy spots are free, curated public galleries, exchanges and displays. Installed in curb gardens, front yards or sides of buildings these projects were created to bring a bit of whimsy and inspiration to the community. Examples include Free Little Art Galleries, Puzzle Exchanges, Toy Swaps, year-round and often updated yard displays, Wishing Trees, and more!

The mapping project started in Portland, Oregon where, in 2023, along with artist Grant Brady, Harms Mahlandt began compiling all of the city's Sidewalk Joy projects — this turned into the PDX Sidewalk Joy Map which currently displays about 130 locations including, according to Oregon Public Radio:

ten tiny, hand-cranked music boxes mounted along a fence and a vintage candy machine dubbed Super Awesome Prizes, which lets patrons choose from rock facts, a daily fortune, pinback buttons, and their most popular item, the Super Awesome Surprise Pack for just 50 cents.

Oregon Public Broadcasting explains that last year, Harms Mahlandt expanded the map beyond Portland and began creating the Worldwide Sidewalk Joy Map, which includes "everything from the Eugene Mug Exchange and a trinket share in Ashland, to a Free Little Art Gallery in Puerto Rico and a Keychain Exchange in the Netherlands." On the worldwide map website, Harms Mahlandt explains that because the Portland-based map "really connected" the "community in a beautiful way," it's her "dream to create that community on a worldwide scale."

I absolutely love projects like this and can't wait to use the map when I travel so I can find cool art projects wherever I go. I am also thrilled that I found four or five Sidewalk Joy projects, including some tiny library art exchanges, pretty close to where I live, so I'll definitely be checking those out as soon as possible!

You can peruse the map here, and if you currently host a Sidewalk Joy project, you can add it to the map here! To be included, projects must be interactive or updated regularly — think "toy exchanges, art swaps, puzzle libraries, yarn exchanges" and more. They must also be easy to find, able to be enjoyed year-round, free, available at all times, and open to the public. As Harms Mahlandt states on the map's website, "Sidewalk Joy is for everyone!" Now, go find and spread some joy!

Previously:

• Why are there tiny doors all over Atlanta?

• Visit Howard Finster's Paradise Garden and more on this funky art sites road trip!

• This artist repairs damaged sidewalks with beautiful mosaic tiles

• Improv Everywhere spreads joy through spontaneous comedy

• Game of Shrooms returns on June 14, 2025

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/08/13/this-new-map-helps-you-find-sidewalk-joy-anywhere-in-the-world.html

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