Downtown Vision Inc.’s Post

The Transformative Power of Art in Community Building In the past week, I've witnessed two profoundly different examples of how art can impact and strengthen communities. The first occurred during our subdivision's community garage sale. As an artist, I offered to host a sidewalk chalk event, something I've done many times before in communities. Donning my alter ego, Professor Bubbles (complete with a bubble-painted lab coat), I set up along a pathway with bubble machines and boxes of chalk. Surprisingly, this event drew more adults than children. Neighbors who typically remain isolated in their homes came out, picked up chalk, and began to interact. Even a door-to-door pest control salesman joined in, spending an hour simply enjoying the camaraderie without once mentioning his services. It was a beautiful reminder of how art can break down barriers and foster connections. The second example took place in Dayton, Ohio, where I witnessed the creation of a large sidewalk mosaic memorializing a tragic mass shooting from several years ago. My friend Jes McMillan of the Mosaic Institute of Dayton shared that over the past six months, more than 5,000 community members contributed to laying out the tiles during open studio events. In recent days, dozens more have helped with completion and grouting. This project exemplifies how art can facilitate healing and unity in the wake of tragedy. The overwhelming community support and participation in creating this memorial underscore the power of public art to bring people together and provide a tangible symbol of collective resilience. From simple chalk drawings that help neighbors connect, to complex mosaics that unite thousands in a shared purpose, community art builds engagement and strengthens social bonds. It provides a platform for expression, healing, and connection that transcends words. I'm eager to hear your experiences with community art. Please share your stories in the comments or email me at [email protected]. Let's continue to explore and celebrate the transformative power of art in our communities. #CommunityArt #PublicArt #ArtHeals #CommunityBuilding #CreativeEngagement

Please read below about the winning Prize of RISA in the 2023 Excellence in RISA Awards.

We are so honored and excited to officially announce our Round 2 projects! In order of appearance: 1. Green Pastures - In cooperation with local stakeholders, preservation groups, and Douthat State Park, the project will introduce an interpretive trail and a staged reading to showcase the rich heritage and stories associated with Green Pastures. This recreational area holds significant cultural importance as a recreational haven for African Americans during an era of segregation. 2. 23/54 - In 1947, 23 Black parents and 54 children challenged racial discrimination in the court case Corbin v. County School Board of Pulaski County, Virginia. Inspired by this story, the Calfee Community and Cultural Center (CCCC) aims to research and tell the stories of brave Black parents in Southwest Virginia, their ancestors and descendants through oral history interviews, archival research, a traveling exhibit, and a community-created quilt. 3. Yesáh Community House - The Monacan Nation Cultural Foundation will be building a modern-day long house that will serve as a physical monument of the Monacan people in Virginia. It will be constructed on the Monacan pow wow grounds in Monroe, VA and will become the permanent home of this annual event. 4. Labor in Motion - The Town of Pound, VA and Appalachian Voices will be partnering in creating an amphitheater and decorative retaining wall. The amphitheater will be transformed into the town's first performance venue for town events and storytelling events chosen by town residents. (See rendering of the Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC) above. Neither rendering nor location have been finalized.) 5. Raising the Shade - More than 180,000 African American soldiers made significant contributions in the American Civil War, however, only a handful of monuments to these men exist. The Franklin County NAACP aims to share these stories and more at various community events over the next year, as well as dedicating a monument to these soldiers. To learn more about Round 1 & 2 projects, please visit moremountainstories.org Mellon Foundation Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Monument Lab #moremountainstories

My latest Philadelphia Inquirer story

The Legacy of Tun Tavern, Part II - Taverns served a vital role in the creation of the new American Republic. Researcher Baylen J. Linneken noted that taverns were “vital centers where colonists of reputations great and small gathered to read printed tracts, speak with each other on important issues of the day, debate the news, organize boycotts, draft treatises and demands, plot expulsion of their British overlords, and establish a new nation.” (Source: 2012, Baylen J. Linneken, Tavern Talk and the Origins of the Assembly Clause: Tracing the First Amendment’s Clause Back to Its Roots in Colonial Taverns. Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 39 (3):593-628.) Some argue that the right to assemble, codified in the First Amendment to the Constitution, was born out of colonial American taverns.   - Colonial taverns of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were typically operated out of dwelling houses, which served multiple purposes. For this reason, tavern architecture did not conform to one particular style, but rather drew on vernacular architectural forms, and taverns were visually similar to other domestic and commercial buildings. (Source: 2003, A.K. Sandoval-Strausz, A Public House for a New Republic: The Architecture of Accommodation and the American State, 1789-1809. Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture 9:54-70).   - Built as one of the earliest taverns in Philadelphia, the Tun Tavern was likely expanded in the early eighteenth century. Thereafter, several social groups began to meet there, including the first Masonic group in Pennsylvania and three groups that assisted people moving to the colony from Europe – the St. George’s, St. Patrick’s, and St. Andrew’s societies. These are just a few of the details shared in the report. “The new historical study offers fresh insights that will inform efforts to preserve and interpret the Tun Tavern’s legacy,” said Pat Dailey, president and founder of the Tun Tavern Legacy Foundation. “By analyzing the tavern’s architectural features and comparing them to other colonial-era structures, the report provides recommendations for how a historically accurate reconstruction might look.” As the Tun Tavern Legacy Foundation shares details from this comprehensive study, it hopes to spark interest in rediscovering and celebrating this historic institution’s history. Through careful interpretation, the spirit of the Tun Tavern can once again come to life. For more insights and updates on The Tun™, its design, features, and history, please follow this newsletter and invite others to subscribe. As the Tun Tavern Legacy Foundation prepares for the November 2024 groundbreaking for The Tun™, please consider making a donation. https://lnkd.in/eU4xaRxe If EVERY MARINE donated only $10, we could pay cash for the rebuilding of our beloved Tun. PLEASE consider making that $10 donation....Semper Fi

What do storm drains have to do with art? In Muskegon, they’re becoming canvases for change. Our Storm Drain Mural Program is mobilizing local artists to transform these often-overlooked spaces into vibrant, thought-provoking works of art. Because these murals aren’t just pretty to look at. They’re designed to spark important conversations about environmental stewardship and the impact of our actions on local waterways. Support this innovative approach to eco-education by donating at https://lnkd.in/eK-tBn9E.

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As we look for more ways to share our building with the community, I find these sorts of articles fascinating. I just ordered a 2002 book by Ram Cnaan about the role of churches in social services (I'll link it in the comments). In 2009, he did a study that added a monetary value to what urban churches offer in social services and estimated that it was the equivalent of around $475,000 per year. Every time we lose a church community, we lose these services and the community has to pick them up in some way or, more likely, go without. These services are about a place the church shares as well as the volunteer work and financial support of church's members and friends. It would be interesting to see if there is much of a connection between church closures and increases in community service needs. On the church building end, sorting out the difference between making sure these old buildings of ours help facilitate our organizational mission of service (as well as worship, education, and artistic/spiritual expression) versus our organizational mission becoming serving the building is a challenge for any organization with significant, physical infrastructure. Anyone who works for schools, government, medical organizations, etc. can relate. What makes it challenging is that we also have a system of belief that, for us, undergirds our mission. This can put up barriers to partnership with entities that have to be careful about supporting any one belief structure. The question for us becomes, how can we build partnerships around shared values without significantly impinging on our undergirding religious integrity while, at the same time, respecting a non-church organization's commitment to not participate in the promotion of any one set of religious beliefs? There is a gap between these two realities in which those who need services too frequently fall through. How can we best work together with values and work we share in common?

Have you heard of the Missouri Heart Gallery? It’s a project that began in 2006 as a way to help children in foster care in Missouri awaiting adoptive families find their forever homes. If you or someone you know is considering adoption, learn how to get started at https://buff.ly/3jZlLgf. #AdoptMOKids #NationalAdoptionMonth

Architectural Atrocity Alert coming out of the City of Keego Harbor, Michigan! Residents in Keego Harbor are protesting the slated demolition of Roosevelt Elementary, a 103-year-old former school building a decision made just recently by the West Bloomfield School District! Preservation Plea for help, friends❗️ Honestly, when only demolition bids have been solicited and no rehab/ reuse bids have been requested is cause for concern and questionable to say that least. There's a ripple effect on the surrounding neighborhood when you demolish a community school. Will a family want to move to Keego Harbor? How will property values be impacted? Will there be an absence of street activity with no school children walking to school? Where will the community gather? And why isn't adaptive reuse as housing a solution? DEMOLITION is never a solution. This is a reckless decision with fear as the driving factor and a lack of understanding on how to care for or adapt a historic building. Sticking my neck out in the final hour in a plea for preservation. #savingplaces through targeted #historicpreservation