Frederiksted, VI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: To highlight the culture, history and traditions of the island of St. Croix, the VI Council on the Arts created a new mural. A local artist blocked out the artwork's design, then project organizers engaged volunteers -- including retired community members and people with disabilities -- to help paint. Installed in a busy area frequented by local fishermen, the mural depicts fish and coral native to the Virgin Islands. In the future, the Council plans to work with the community to create more murals.

Pittsburgh, PA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: To bring vibrancy to Pittsburgh's Beechview neighborhood, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Partnership for Aging engaged residents in a public art project. The result was Color Beechview. With the guidance of a local artist, community members wore LED lights on bodies, which they used to create light paintings through long-exposure technology. The resulting digital art depicts the silhouettes of Beechview residents, including children and older adults. SWPPA then displayed the art throughout the neighborhood, including on the sidewalk pavement in front of the senior center, on the side of light rail cars and along neighborhood fences. Organizers say key goals of the project were combatting social isolation and creating intergenerational connections. We encouraged people who didn't know one another to reach across generations and across ethnicities to connect, Lively Pittsburgh's Ted Cmarada said.

Henderson, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: The Flint Hill Kittrell Vance Community Development Corporation hoped to help foster economic development in Henderson's Flint Hill neighborhood, a low-income community. To create a sense of place there, the CDC created the Henderson Art Walk. First, volunteers worked to install murals and crosswalk art reflecting the area's history and culture. Local youth also took part in an oral history project, recording stories from their elders. A local website hosts an archive of the stories, along with photos of local public art installations. Then the CDC launched its walking tour, which highlights local Black history and culture. The walk leads visitors past local galleries and museums, as well as murals and crosswalk art. One mural honors Ben E. King, a Henderson native best known for writing and performing the song Stand by Me. The success of this placemaking project has inspired similar efforts in nearby communities and has spurred the CDC to create more public art.