Palmer, AK

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: This project set out to create an arts and cultural trail in Palmer by installing four permanent pieces of art throughout town. To oversee the project -- including artist and site selection and community engagement -- the United Way of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough established a volunteer advisory board. They then selected four local artists. Once completed, the art will be displayed near affordable housing complexes, local business, trails and parks and at Palmer's public library. Each piece pays tribute to local history and identity, with one sculpture depicting the Matanuska Maid and a series of ceramic works evoking the flow and shape of the Alaska landscape.

Middlebury, VT

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: To make Middlebury's downtown more vibrant, Find Your Wings launched a public art initiative to increase community engagement. The organization engaged local artists who worked with residents to create eight sets of wings. To include as many community members as possible, they distributed art kits to homebound residents, schools and senior living facilities, who sent their creations back to the artists. Each set of wings is unique -- one consists of painted plywood feathers, another parrots a monarch butterfly's wings, while a third turns random household objects into musical instruments for passersby to strike. Installed throughout downtown, the installations invite pedestrians to pose and snap selfies. Project organizers say the placemaking effort is meant to foster a sense of belonging and boost the local economy.

Upper Darby, PA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: A new mural brought renewed activity and improved safety to Upper Darby Township's downtown. Volunteers -- including older adults, artists, students and art teachers -- designed and created the 135-foot mural, which is located in a breezeway connecting a parking lot to retail and entertainment options. Its design incorporates greetings in 60 languages -- reflecting community members' native tongues -- and older adults' input helped ensure its imagery reflected the region's history. Project organizers also added new lighting and seating to the breezeway. Community response has been positive. "I really enjoy the walk from the garage to the office building," one local worker said. "It is cleaner and well-lit. The colorful mural provides an uplifting view and I believe that it encourages people to care a bit more about the area...There is such diversity in culture here." Going forward, the Township plans to use the site for small pop-up events, such as a Music at the Mural performance.