Oconomowoc, WI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: This alley activation project turned a stark passageway between the lakefront and downtown retail into a livelier pedestrian link. Project organizers added a painted design on the pavement and constructed trellises to provide shade. The City chose not to close the alleyway during the transformation work. Instead, passersby were invited to lend a hand to the rejuvenation process by painting a faux floor tile (or several). This also allowed visitors to ask questions about the transformation happening before their eyes. The project sparked conversations about how to activate the other downtown alleys, each with its own unique look and distinctive experience. And when the City reconstructed its boardwalk, it borrowed the trellis design used in the alleyway. People now change their routes to experience the walkway, city planner Kristi Weber said. It gets folks to lift their heads up, look around and enjoy some untraditional and unexpected art.

New Orleans, LA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: This project will renovate a meeting space and intergenerational playground in an affordable housing development built for low-income musicians who were displaced in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Sacramento, CA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: This pop-up placemaking project will transform a parking lot into an outdoor plaza. Volunteers will install accessible benches to accommodate older adults attending planned events in the space.