Blight Out Summer Party: A Party With a Purpose

The Memphis UrbanArt Commission recently partnered with Advance Memphis and Innovate Memphis (also known as the Innovation Delivery Team) for a Blight Out Summer Party to celebrate recent efforts to address blight (neglected or rundown areas) in the Vance Avenue corridor in Memphis, Tenn.

Community residents and potential project donors were on hand for the celebration, which included music, face painting, arts and crafts and the unveiling of three artist proposals for addressing blight in the area. The proposals resulted from neighborhood meetings and design charrettes (intense design or planning activities) to identify the needs and desires of the community, as well as ways to transform or activate blighted areas through public art.

“We met with three age groups—school-age children, working adults and retired senior citizens,” said Kate Lareau, director of communications for Advance Memphis. “With each, we discussed how public art can work in a neighborhood and the different forms that it can take.”

During the party, attendees had the opportunity to vote on three proposals, which also will be posted on Advance Memphis’ website for viewing. Voting will continue throughout the week. Advance Memphis also plans to share the proposals with the Senior Living Center at Cleaborn Pointe to involve those residents in the selection process.

“By inviting them to give input about art and location, participants begin to feel a sense of ownership and see the potential for art to affect their space,” said Lareau.

Once the winning proposal is selected, UAC will work with the artist to develop and install the project. UAC also will share the process with interested residents and community organizations throughout Memphis, as well as develop a toolkit as a best-practice model that other local and national communities can use to engage their communities and effectively combat blight in their neighborhoods.

“People are learning that they can change what they see around them—that it's not a mystical process, but something they can make happen,” said Lareau.

For more information, please contact Allison Hennie at ahennie@urbanartcommission.org or visit advancememphis.org.

25 SQ at the Carpenter Art Garden: Paint Session in Binghampton with Erin Harris

By Alexis Becton

Artist Erin Harris hosted a paint session at the Carpenter Art Garden, located at 301 Carpenter Street in Binghampton, on Tuesday, June 17 from 4 to 6 pm. She and a group of neigbhorhood volunteers painted plywood murals for the 25 SQ Public Art Initiative, a project spearheaded by the Mayor’s Innovation Delivery Team in partnership with the UrbanArt Commission.
 

As a warm-up, the hula hoop group “Co-Motion” performed and invited everyone to participate. Then, it was time to get those paintbrushes to work. Two dozen volunteers of all ages began painting plywood murals for the neighborhood as part of the 25 SQ Public Art Initiative. They also created potted plant arrangements for a woodland fairy garden. The completed portable murals will be installed on both ends of Carpenter Street and at other locations in Binghampton.

The Carpenter Art Garden will celebrate two years of being open and active in the community this August. “Each mural celebrates the community. The opportunities to work with the neighborhood kids and volunteers motivates me because we grow things and do something positive in our community,” says Erin Harris. 

The art garden is an urban oasis for the neighborhood’s children and adults, as well as for local artists who have turned the formerly empty lot into a place of beauty. The volunteers have an opportunity to show their creativity with different projects over time. Participants are always elated to start on new projects they enjoy, while having a positive impact both in their lives and in the neighborhood.

The Carpenter Art Garden is open for participatory activities every Tuesday from 4-6 pm during the summer, unless it rains.