Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 301 results  for your search.  View and Refine Your Search Terms

  • Trash to Treasure: A Mongolian Man Turns a Landfill Into a Children's Park

    A Mongolian man named Ulziitogtork transformed a former granite mine that was filled with rubbish into a park/community center for children that sits on top of an artificial lake. Children used to play in the mine, which presented a real health risk, but now they can use the park to boat, ice skate, watch movies over the lake, and learn about Mongolian culture. Ulziitogtork considers it a work in progress and is counting on the local government to address the pollution and infrastructure problems that led to the park's creation, but already provides fun for over 6,000 children a year.

    Read More

  • Much to Do about (Vacant) Lots

    In St. Louis, Philadelphia, Detroit, and other postindustrial cities, community organizations and city officials are trying a number of methods to reduce the number of empty lots and vacant houses that plague neighborhoods. As opposed to earlier, one-off programs, cities are now forging coordinated approaches that acknowledge the systemic issues underlying persistent vacant land -- for example, in St. Louis, an inventory of all vacant properties is shaping the work of a series of related city initiatives.

    Read More

  • Silo art becomes national movement and this is how it all began

    A project to paint murals on silos across Western Australia has brought artists from around the world for work. These murals--some 36 meters high--have created stunning public art and cultural tourism for often struggling small towns.

    Read More

  • What If All Community Development Started with Local Arts and Culture?

    An Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania art project "gently" demolished a historic, vacant building and reassembled it as a communal space. This is an example of "creative placemaking," a method to both preserve the character of a community and help address vacancies and the need for development.

    Read More

  • Why your favorite bench might be there to thwart a terrorist attack

    How do you make a public space inviting so people will gather, but also safe from the growing danger of attackers using vehicles to ram large numbers of people? Many cities have responded to such attacks with concrete bollards and other barriers. But designers and architects are increasingly innovating other options that protect people via planters, fountains, trees, bike racks, steps and traffic calming designs to stop or slow down vehicles.

    Read More

  • The Other Side of “Broken Windows”

    By cleaning up thousands of abandoned buildings and vacant lots, the city of Philadelphia caused sharp declines in violence and other crime in a program that has become a model for cities nationwide. The cleanup program became the subject of two long-term experiments comparing the "treated" buildings and lots to those that remained signs of blight. In one study, gun violence dropped 39% in and around cleaned-up buildings. The 5% decline associated with cleaned-up vacant lots was much smaller but still meaningful. Neighbors praised the sense of safety they gained in the improved areas.

    Read More

  • How Trees Can Cool Dallas's Concrete Jungle

    In a Dallas neighborhood, environmental organizations are teaming up to plant a tree canopy that will address multiple environmental and public health concerns, while also cooling down the city's urban heat island effect. The solution is focused on helping those who are most vulnerable: seniors, minority residents, and students.

    Read More

  • Giving new life to vacant buildings can boost struggling towns

    In New York, an intentional form of housing development is keeping affordability in mind. Neighbors for Neighborhoods provides funding for locals to redevelop blighted property from land banks and rent it out as affordable housing. The parameters ensure local impact: there is a limit to how many properties an individual can rent out, and the properties must be rented to people making below 80% the median income in the region. The program has $4 million in funding so far.

    Read More

  • Transforming Tulsa, Starting with a Park

    Gathering Place is the name of a new park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a large-scale creative park project that, rather than receiving funding from the local government, was funded entirely through a local philanthropic foundation. One goal of the park is to bring different areas of the city together--though it remains to be seen if this will work as well as if privately-funded public spaces are effective in the future.

    Read More

  • What's Behind Buffalo's Public Art Boom?

    Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery created the position of public art curator in 2014. Since then, a combination of public and private funding has created site-specific public art across the city bringing prominent artists to Buffalo as well as involving local artists and community members.

    Read More