Wailuku, HI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: This project will transform a public space into an accessible gathering area with chairs and tables for people of all ages and abilities.

Clarion, IA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: A dilapidated, abandoned building sat in the heart of Clarion's downtown business district. But city officials were concerned demolishing the building would result in a missing tooth -- a vacant lot not conducive for redevelopment. The City made the difficult decision to tear down the building, but rather than leave the site empty they turned the space into a pocket park. Equipped with accessible picnic tables and new trees, bushes, planters and attractive grasses, the new green space gives residents easy access from a parking lot to the shops and restaurants on Central Avenue.

Sisseton, SD

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public space activation

Description: To encourage residents to walk and increase the vibrancy of Sisseton's downtown, The Sisseton Arts Council created a new community gathering spot, which they dubbed the Midway Green Space. The site features a sculpture of a reflective, eight-point star, designed to represent the area's native Dakota and Scandinavian immigrant heritage. To make the Green Space inviting to visitors, volunteers installed granite benches and seeded native grasses. Since these improvements, project organizers secured funding for a second sculpture for the site, created by a local Native artist.