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Anderson Arts Center (2019) Print
2019 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Community Gardens
└ Community Gardens
To expose locals to art and grow food for people in need, Anderson Arts Center beautified its campus by creating a new mural and community garden. The first mural in Anderson, it depicts a rabbit alongside a colorful fruit and vegetables. Since its completion, it has inspired other local organizations to create their own murals around town. Project organizers say within the garden's first year, the Center taught nearly 500 children about growing fresh vegetables. The Arts Center, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, hosts gallery exhibitions featuring regional, national and international artists, orchestrates downtown public arts projects and is home to a summer arts camp and arts school for children and adults.
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See More Projects Like This One
New Orleans, LA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project created a community garden with twenty raised-bed garden boxes. Dillard University Community Relations also held six healthy-cooking demonstrations and four health fairs.
Lawton, OK
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create a community garden where Comanche elders can grow vegetables and flowers. Participating gardeners will plan, tend and harvest their plots and distribute their produce to the community.
Omaha, NE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Two Omaha neighborhoods lacked access to fresh produce and safe outdoor spaces, leaving older adults with few options to garden or connect. Conservation Nebraska built eight raised garden beds and four benches from recycled plastic lumber, making gardening accessible and sustainable. Five community events and 36 volunteers, including many age 50-plus, helped transform vacant lots into vibrant spaces. These improvements will last for years, promoting health and reducing isolation by giving older adults a place to grow food and build relationships.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Anderson, SC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Walkability
Description: Older adults and residents using mobility devices faced unsafe walking routes near a bus stop with no sidewalks or lighting. The alliance led five walk audits with more than 130 participants to identify hazards and propose relocating the stop to an ADA-compliant site. The effort also introduced ideas for artistic crosswalks and greenery. These actions sparked formal plans for a new bus stop and pocket park, with city leaders and local groups pledging support, laying the groundwork for improved walkability and community connections.
Anderson, SC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Housing Choice Design Competitions
Description: Anderson County lacks affordable, accessible housing for older adults and people with disabilities, leaving many at risk of unsafe living conditions. The alliance hosted a housing design competition and charrettes to create realistic solutions, adapting plans after Hurricane Helene with virtual outreach and surveys. Five designs were unveiled for public voting, and the winning adaptive reuse concept inspired county leaders to explore converting vacant buildings into housing. Donated land and strong community engagement now position the county to expand options for low-income older adults.
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