Front and Schiller Park
In Reading, Pennsylvania, a community leader pairs fun community activities with cleanup efforts to reactive an underutilized pocket park and engage residents in reclaiming their neighborhood.
Read MoreSouth of Penn Community Lot
On a Friday in September 2021, a 110-pound turtle was walking along a patch of grass while children learned about reptiles and insects. The reptile show was part of a series of programs such as movie nights, cleanups, porch concerts, and art workshops that have been taking place at the South of Penn Community Lot.…
Read MoreAlleyway Concerts
The Alleyway Concerts were born out of the desire to activate underappreciated spaces while also gathering community members through music. Concert locations have ranged from abandoned lots to bodega fronts to inside a laundromat. Using simple portable speakers and microphones the program engages local artists and businesses to see the beauty of their community through…
Read MoreVacant Homes Tour
Wilkinsburg is community just outside Pittsburgh with a population of 15,000 residents. In 2014 a community artist, Dee Briggs, purchased a vacant house slated for demolition in Wilkinsburg. She painted it gold and used media channels to shine a light on the history of the house and the people who once called it home. In…
Read MoreSteps at Main
From the library’s perspective, staff were seeking a way to make the library more relevant for the low-income Latino community who live nearby. As part of this work, the library established an outreach coordinator position to develop non-traditional programming, starting with baseline surveys to identify obstacles that prevent folks from using the library. Respondents expressed…
Read MoreSprinkler Beach
On an underutilized municipal parking lot in Monticello, New York, youth painted an ocean and beach to kick off a day spent splashing in sprinklers while their parents brainstormed downtown commercial district revitalization. The Sullivan County Planning Department, Village of Monticello Department of Public Works and Fire Department, and Center for Workforce Development’s Youth Program…
Read MoreSalsa on the Riverfront
The program was made possible through leadership development training led by NewVue Communities, a regional nonprofit dedicated to resident leadership. NewVue Communities hosts a Leadership Cohort through their community organizing department. Cohort participants receive technical assistance and develop skills needed to write and receive grants along with seed funding to support their own programs. Through…
Read MoreProphets, Poets, and Parks
City resident Lourdes Monzon organizes these gatherings, called Prophets, Poets, and Parks. She intentionally rotates the events around the city, picking abandoned and underutilized areas of parks. Her purpose is to create safe spaces that highlight the importance of words, narratives, and poetry. The first event in the series focused on reading poems by Audrey…
Read MorePegasus Garden
After the city demolished a home, the resulting vacant lot attracted illegal drug activity to the area. Jennifer Grau, a Prospect PLACE neighborhood resident, said “Neighbors wanted to create a colorful space for gathering and gardening that would signal to those who live here and those passing by that we live in a connected, vibrant,…
Read MoreThe Big Zipper
Over the course of the summer of 2015, the Meadville Neighborhood Center and Steve Prince, artist in residence at Allegheny College, initiated the summer-long collaborative art project. Mr. Prince cut zipper pieces – that is, the individual prongs of a zipper – out of wood and distributed them to community members at 25 wood carving…
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