Good idea!

Replacing ‘For Rent’ Signs With Art, to Keep Empty Spaces Full

Photo: Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times

« At the Flatbush Avenue Extension in Brooklyn, the psychedelic painter and performance artist Kenny Scharf spray-painted what he described as “a big red monster mean guy being parasitically sucked on by some yellow guys." (...)

The art may vary in style and shock value, but the settings are essentially the same — spaces donated or leased for a song by building owners unable to rent or develop them.
As the recession drags on and storefronts across New York remain empty, commercial landlords are turning to an unlikely new class of tenants: artists, who in flusher times tend to get pushed out rather than lured in. And the price of entry is not deep pockets, but vivid imaginations and splashy exhibits — anything to lend their darkened buildings a sense of life.(...)» in THE NEW YORK TIMES- 12.10.09