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Rapid City, SD

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: To increase awareness of the local book club and other community activities, NeighborWorks designed and installed 30 flags in the North Rapid neighborhood. A local artists created designs for the flags and residents worked together to approve wording for each one. Volunteers then installed flags on utility poles throughout the neighborhood. Project organizers say that since the flags appeared, local groups have received inquiries about how to become more involved in local activities.

Nashville, TN

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: With the goal of reducing social isolation for older residents, Urban Housing Solutions designed and constructed a temporary parklet at Mercury Court, a small affordable housing community close to downtown Nashville. The organization outfitted the outdoor space with patio chairs, picnic tables, planter boxes, solar string lights and shade umbrellas. They also repainted a community room and decorated a wall with graphics celebrating the property's history. To ensure the space enables social interaction, a group of residents worked to coordinate social events, such as movie and game nights and community meals. In addition, Mercury Courts residents have shown interest in using the new planter boxes as garden beds. Urban Housing Solutions is a nonprofit housing developer serving Nashville's unhoused and low-income residents.

West Chester, PA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: This project installed ADA-compliant seating and tables, plus a security camera, to an underused terrace outside the library.

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Danville, KY

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Danville has a significant population of residents who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Community Arts Center hoped to foster a greater sense of belonging for these individuals and to strengthen their sense of place. To achieve this, students from the Kentucky School for the Deaf created and installed a 100-square-foot mosaic on the exterior wall of the Community Arts Center, one of the town's most prominent buildings. The Center held workshops to teach the students about mosaic art and hosted a lecture series for the larger community. In a follow up survey of the students, a majority said they were excited to bring family to visit the mural. They also said the project boosted their sense of connection to the community.

Danville, KY

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Danville was known for the community's commitment to the arts, but the town lacked public art in its downtown. In an effort to bring vibrancy to the town's commercial core, Heart of Danville has supported more than 100 major renovation projects. This project installed the community's first large-scale mural. More than 1,000 residents provided feedback about what should be included in the mural designed by artist Andlee Rudloff. The final design showcases the community's history. To complete the mural, 205 people -- ranging in age from 2- to 80-years-old -- gathered to paint. Project organizers say the mural is the first step toward activating the adjacent parking lot, allowing it to host parklet installations and pop-up events.

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