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.

Wilmington, DE

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: During the planning stages for a mural at the 4th Rodney Park, Pastor Lottie Lee-Davis -- a community leader and the project's main partner -- was killed in a car crash. The original goal for the mural was to depict positive imagery for neighborhood children to look up to as they played. After Pastor Lottie's death, organizers used the mural to honor the woman who was a beloved leader and advocate for the 4th Street corridor's residents. Local artists Crae Washington and JaQuanne LeRoy Daniels made Lee-Davis the central figure in the mural, surrounding her with bold colors and words representing career aspirations of the area's children and teens. Since the mural's installation other improvements have come to the park, including new greenery and a bike repair station. Cornerstone West has also worked to implement public art and beautification projects at other nearby parks, including Judy Johnson Park, Cool Spring Park and Tilton Park.

Rock Springs, WY

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Part of a multiyear effort to bring public art to downtown Rock Springs, this project added a new mural paying tribute to the area's mining and railroad history. The artwork then spurred redevelopment of an adjacent vacant lot, which is now a pocket park with seating, shade structures and landscaping. To help visitors learn about local history, Rock Springs Renewal Fund added interpretive signage for the mural, and for others installed nearby. Ultimately, the project's success inspired the City of Rock Springs to commission three additional murals for the pocket park. Today, the City hosts mural walks through the central business district.