Lancaster, PA

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: SACA set out to create a more welcoming plaza by lifting up the migration stories of older adults whose histories were not widely known. The organization recorded ten oral stories and linked them to QR codes placed across the neighborhood, then commissioned a steel sculpture shaped like a travel trunk releasing monarch butterflies to symbolize movement and renewal. They also installed six interpretive panels and hosted a community block party. The project is expected to preserve elders' stories over time as SACA refreshes the recordings and expands its annual "Voices of Migration" art show. A neighbor's suggestion for a monarch theme helped shape the sculpture, showing how resident input guided the work. The effort also prompted further plaza improvements and sparked interest in replicating the project in other cities.

Project description was created using generative AI and then reviewed for accuracy.

Henderson, NV

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: As part of efforts to revitalize the Army Street corridor, the City of Henderson commissioned murals to decorate concrete benches along a pedestrian thoroughfare. The City hoped the 12 colorful benches would draw visitors to downtown businesses, including the Purple Penguin Snowcone Shack and City Lights Art Gallery. Today, the murals offer pedestrians -- and other visitors to the Downtown Senior Center -- a popular spot to snap a photo or sit down and rest. Project organizers say the art installations also sparked the City to develop its Arts and Culture Master Plan. And in the years since, funding for public art in Henderson has increased, resulting in 10 new mural installations.

Binghamton, NY

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: To improve the walkability and aesthetics of an industrial neighborhood in Binghamton, the Center for Technology and Innovation installed a 300-square-foot topographical map mural. Displayed along Wall Street, the artwork depicts a stretch of New York State from Cooperstown to Lake Erie. Organizers say the map aims to enliven pedestrian-friendly block connecting Northside residential neighborhood to downtown shopping areas and a regional transportation hub. The three-dimensional map, prepared with the help of the U.S. Geological Survey, is titled Here in the Heart of New York.