DK: Intro time: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your role at Uptown GR, Inc.:

KZ: I’m Katie, the Event Specialist at Uptown GR, and I’m passionate about creating experiences that bring people together and make the community feel a little more connected. I especially love events that are free and welcoming to all walks of life because I think everyone should have opportunities to get out, explore their neighborhood, and have a good time without having to spend a lot of money.

Uptown is my community, and I really want to see both our small local businesses and our residents thrive. A lot of what I do is centered around creating those little moments that make people happy, whether that’s discovering a new business, finding something unexpected, spending time with family or friends, or just having a reason to get out and explore.

Outside of work, I’m a big foodie, I love creating art, and I love walking around Uptown with my family and appreciating all of the beautiful historic homes and buildings. Those interests definitely find their way into the events I create.

DK: Where did the idea for Tiny Doors Uptown GR come from? Was there a specific moment when you thought, “We need to do this here”? Why did Uptown feel like the right place for a project like this?

KZ: My mom and niece have always loved fairy doors. They’ve even made their own and put them in my mom’s garden, and I’ve always loved seeing how much fun they have hunting for them together on walks. There’s something really special about how a tiny door can turn an ordinary walk into a little adventure and a really sweet bonding experience.

I started noticing more fairy doors while I was out walking around, and I’d always stop to look at them. As my son gets older, I’m excited to have those same kinds of little adventures with him. And then I had an epiphany: instead of hoping more people would put fairy doors in their own yards, why not create a whole collection of them and put them somewhere everyone could enjoy them?

That’s where Tiny Doors Uptown GR came from. We have so many incredibly creative people throughout our districts and neighborhoods, and I loved the idea of inviting them to create their own tiny doors and placing those doors at local businesses throughout Uptown. That way, the doors could be discovered by families, friends, and anyone out exploring…and the businesses could be part of the magic, too.

DK: Tiny doors have appeared in communities around the country. What inspired you about the concept, and what did you want to do differently to make Uptown’s version its own?

KZ: Yes, they have, and I think it’s such a sweet concept! A few cities have put their own spin on tiny doors, but what makes Tiny Doors Uptown GR unique is that this entire collection was created by our community. We invited local makers to a Makers Night this past July, where we spent three hours creating the collection together. It was a tiny-door-making party with pizza, drinks, good music, glitter, glue, and a whole lot of creativity. The goal was to bring our creative community together and have them build an entire collection of doors that would eventually be installed throughout Uptown at local businesses.

We’re also launching the collection during ArtPrize, one of Grand Rapids’ most cherished celebrations of art, as a votable community art entry. So this isn’t just a collection of tiny doors that happened to come to Uptown; it’s a collection that Uptown created together. And now we get to share it with the whole community for an entire year.

DK: How much creative freedom did each artist have? Were there guidelines, themes, or parameters they were asked to work within?

KZ: They had pretty much total creative freedom. Everyone signed a maker agreement that outlined the purpose, goals, and a few guidelines for their door. The practical instructions were simple: the doors couldn’t be larger than one square foot in width and height or more than five inches deep. Beyond that, I really just told them to make something that was kid-friendly and inclusive.

That’s how we ended up with such a wide range of styles, which I couldn’t be more thrilled about. Every door feels perfectly unique, just like Uptown. 

DK: What surprised you most as you watched the different doors take shape?

KZ: What surprised me was how warm and exciting it felt watching everything come together. Honestly, I felt like a kid on Christmas. I knew we had the right people when we put out the call, and that became really obvious within the first 30 minutes of Makers Night. Everyone was so excited to be there and so willing to jump in and create. It was probably my favorite event I’ve ever thrown.

DK: Tiny Doors is obviously whimsical and fun, but there’s also a larger placemaking component to the project. What do you hope people experience as they search for the doors?

KZ: I have so many hopes for this project, and I keep dreaming up little scenarios that I hope come to life. More than anything, I hope the doors bring people together and create memories, and that, while they’re looking for the doors they discover something new along the way.

I want a little girl and her grandma to decide to spend an afternoon hunting for tiny doors and, along the way, discover their new favorite smoothie spot. I want a young couple to go on a date to find the doors, stumble across a food truck that blows them away, and come back again and again. I want people to walk into businesses they’ve never been in before and discover something they love—a chocolate that melts in their mouth, the best tacos they’ve ever had, a bookstore they didn’t know existed.

The doors are the reason to get out and explore, but the hope is that they lead people to something else. If someone comes looking for tiny doors and leaves with a new favorite place in Uptown, a new tradition with their family, or a really great memory with someone they love, then I think we’ve done something really special.

DK: Why was it important to make Tiny Doors free, self-guided and accessible to people of all ages?

KZ: The world is expensive right now, and I think we need more things that people can enjoy without having to spend money. Free experiences give us an opportunity to get out of the house, grab a friend or your family, move our bodies, and explore the world around us.

And I think we need more of those opportunities. We need more reasons to dream, wonder, connect, and experience art together. So much of our lives already happens through a screen, and I’d much rather give people a reason to put the phone down, go for a walk, and be present with the people around them.

That’s really what I wanted Tiny Doors to be: an easy, free reason to get outside and explore together. Making it self-guided and accessible to all ages means you don’t need a ticket, a schedule, or anything special to participate. You just need a little curiosity and a willingness to look around.

DK: Unlike many ArtPrize installations, these doors aren’t necessarily disappearing when ArtPrize ends. Why did you want Tiny Doors to have a life beyond the event?

KZ: ArtPrize felt like the perfect way to launch Tiny Doors because it gives us a chance to introduce the project to a huge audience and celebrate it as a community-created art experience. But I never wanted the project to be something people only had a few weeks to enjoy.

The doors were made by people in our community, for our community, and I think that’s what makes them worth keeping around. There’s something really special about creating something together and then getting to watch other people discover and enjoy it. Why should that have to end when ArtPrize ends?

My dream is that the collection continues to grow over the years—that more doors are added, more local makers get involved, and more people come to Uptown to hunt for these tiny works of art. I’d love for Uptown to become known not only for its amazing small local businesses, but also as a place where you can discover art made by the community that loves this district.

DK: If someone is setting out to find the Tiny Doors for the first time, what advice would you give them?

To begin, start by perusing our Tiny Doors Uptown GR homepage. And then, when you’re ready to hit the bricks, you’ll begin your adventure at the not-so-tiny door mural located on the back of  local Uptown business Vetr Health (find them in our East Hills business district at Diamond St. SE). From there, grab a map from the booklet holder on the mural, and start exploring! The doors are intentionally NOT always in the most obvious places, so you have to slow down, look closely, and definitely look low. Keep your eyes peeled for little details, wander into shops you might normally pass by, and give yourself permission to get a little distracted along the way. And don’t rush to find them all. The fun is in the hunt and you never know what you might discover along the way.

DK: Anything else you’d like our readers to know, think about, consider, etc., as they engage with this experience?

KZ: I think the biggest thing I’d want people to remember is that the doors are really just an invitation to explore. Go find the art, but also look around while you’re there. Walk into a business you’ve never been in. Try something new. Talk to someone. Take your kids somewhere they’ve never been. Let yourself be a little silly. There’s a lot of really special stuff happening in Uptown, and I hope Tiny Doors gives people a reason to slow down and discover it.

DK: Where should people reach to if interested in joining the TD Collective for future door creation?

KZ: If you’re interested in joining the Tiny Door Collective or getting involved in future door creation, reach out to us at events@uptowngr.com.