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VIEW THE RAVENNA PARK PLAYGROUND PROJECT
- Artcycled Mosaics
- 206-325-4295
- Judkins Park Apartments Public Art Project
- Artwork Created by Darcy Thompson /Artcycled Mosaics
- Summary Report By Housing Resources Group March 2006
The goals of the art installation at the Judkins Park Apartments were:
- To expose the residents of the newly-constructed Judkins Park Apartment to the visual arts, outside of a structured school environment.
- To increase the safety of the common areas. By covering the blank walls with landscaping and artwork, Housing Resources Group hopes that these walls will not be targets for graffiti.
- To develop positive relationships among new residents of this community.
- To create a sense of ownership in the common areas of this development. The addition of colorful artwork will make the common areas more inviting, vibrant and playful.
- To support local artists.
- To establish a model for coordinating visual arts projects at HRG’s buildings, especially those that provide housing for families and children.
- Before Pictures
- Workshop #1 Date: June 29, 2005 # of participants: 11
- Summary: Led by local artist Darcy Thompson, the kids selected their favorite shapes and colors from Darcy’s portfolio for the mosaic pieces.
- Workshop #2 Date: August 24, 2005 # of participants: 12
- Summary: Led by Darcy, the kids and parents learned about the process of making an outdoor mosaic art piece and worked together to create their own individual stepping stones.
- Outcomes
- HRG selected and contracted with an emerging local artist, Darcy Thompson, who was able to successfully engage the Judkins Park Apartments’ young residents and HRG’s management staff in developing a concept and reasonably-priced scope of work.
- Darcy held two interactive workshops that exposed the Judkins Park Apartments residents to a fun and creative art process. The initial workshop engaged the kids in clarifying the concept (color, shape, and location) and the second hands-on workshop explained the process of creating outdoor mosaics and allowed residents to create their own mosaic stepping stone.
- After receiving input from residents, Darcy was able to create a vibrant and colorful courtyard area that the children and residents of the Judkins Park Apartments will be able to enjoy for many years. The safety and overall appearance of the outdoor community space is significantly improved. To date, this has been measured through the lack of graffiti and vandalism in these areas as well as feedback from residents indicating that they are pleased with the installation.
Housing Resources Group is very pleased with the outcome of this project. The support from the Safeco Community Fund and McEachern Trust allowed HRG to engage a local artist to help build community at this newly constructed development. Our construction and operating budgets seldom allow HRG to implement this kind of project --- one that is beneficial to both the residents and the value of the building. This project will provide a great model for community-building at both our existing and future affordable housing developments.
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