During the Pandemic, Public Space Practitioners Pivot
6 emerging public space practices from cities across the country
While COVID-19 brings in-person gatherings to a halt, public space leaders across the country are getting creative to continue to bring the benefits of the civic commons to people in their communities. Here are a handful of emerging public space practices from the field:
With playgrounds closed, Philadelphia ensures play continues
Studio Ludo, a Philadelphia non-profit dedicated to sharing the power of play, met the incredible challenge of keeping kids playing during COVID-19 head-on. With 200,000 Philadelphia kids out of school and all playgrounds closed, it looked for a time like Philly’s most vulnerable kids would not have access to play. Then the Studio Ludo team responded, creating 1,200 “Play Packs” in just a week.
Each Play Pack features books, chalk, bubbles, playdough and activity sheets, all of which encourage play and learning at home. To make sure the resources find their ways to the communities that most need them, Studio Ludo is sharing the Play Packs at the food distribution centers throughout the city. Studio Ludo staff are generously donating their time and energy in creating and distributing the Play Packs. You can even download the Play Packs for your community.
And new this week, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation launched Parks & Rec @ Home, a series of virtual programs by staff members that you can participate in right from the comfort of your home. With daily themes like movement, art and nature, this programming is made to promote fun and wellbeing for the entire family.
While cultural centers can’t operate, Chicago’s Rebuild Foundation moves free arts programming online
The core of Rebuild Foundation’s work in Chicago is rooted in physical space — reimagining, offering and reactivating spaces to provide programming and cultural amenities for the public that also create platforms for local artists and organizations.
In the face of a pandemic that has brought sorrow, fear and disconnection to people in Chicago, the Rebuild team began reflecting on the role its spaces play in people’s lives, as places for reflection, creative expression, joy and solace. Rebuild has created virtual cultural offerings for the community, to provide online spaces that they hope play a similar role, while also supporting teaching artists and partners during these difficult and uncertain times.
For example, wellness artist Stacy Patrice now conducts a live virtual program every Sunday at 1pm on Rebuild’s Instagram channel. Stacy, who usually leads a free community yoga class at Dorchester Art + Housing Collaborative each week, continues to walk community members through yoga and meditation techniques specifically tailored to finding healing ways to express themselves during this difficult time.
While a DJ in Residence at the Stony Island Arts Bank, a position that had him leading Sunday Service sets each week for Rebuild’s beloved house community who turn out weekly to listen and dance to house music, Duane Powell has reimagined his regular Sunday sets to curate a playlist that allows for the community to continue to experience a spiritual release. Duane releases his sets on Mixcloud so people can feel the spirit right in their own homes.
Rebuild is even continuing to host its popular monthly Madd Crates “Bring Your Own Vinyl” program, a crowd-sourced program open to anyone with records they want to spin, online. March’s event live-streamed a set from DJ Sean Doe where he dug into his personal collection on Rebuild’s Instagram feed.
Learn more at rebuild-foundation.org/community-offerings.
As libraries shut their doors, they are finding other ways to support communities
As COVID-19 policies encourage Memphians to stay home to stay safe, Memphis Public Libraries is supporting residents by bringing a wide variety of programming right into the safety of home. The Libraries are engaging residents through a series of Facebook live videos, (including daily story times for kids), a SaferAtHome Concert Series and an ongoing set of “how to” videos featuring drawing, gardening, home workouts and other safe activities.
Meanwhile, Boston Public Library is hard at work adding material to its online inventory of electronic books, audiobooks, magazines and movies which are available to every resident of Massachusetts with a free BPL ecard.
And when Toledo Lucas County Public Library had to close its libraries in mid-March, it took an inventory of all its stored supplies that might be put to good use during the pandemic — disinfectant wipes, medical-grade globes and hand sanitizer — and donated it all to the local emergency operations center.
In the face of grim news, Memphis, New York City and Akron parks and trails keep it informational and upbeat
Like many places in the country, Memphis is in a state of civic emergency and under a “safer-at-home” order. Gathering places — bars, restaurants, gyms, bowling alleys, movie theaters and even churches are all closed. But through it all, the city has ensured parks have remained open and classified as “essential,” recognizing that in this time of unprecedented stress and anxiety, the benefits of getting out into nature and exercising are sorely needed.
The Memphis River Parks Partnership — an organization leading the transformation of the city’s 6-mile Mississippi Riverfront and that oversees multiple parks — is taking every precaution to keep both staff and visitors safe, while maintaining a positive, optimistic and forward-looking tone to all communications to encourage Memphians to get out of their houses and continue to use the parks, but to do so safely by maintaining physical distancing. They’ve even started “recess texts” — a daily text of a physical or mental activity designed to give people a break and move around their home, yard, block or nearby park.
The Memphis team moved programming online, including virtual yoga classes in partnership with Downtown Memphis Commission which had more than 300 people join the livestream for its first session. It also began a fitness challenge to encourage physical activity during a time of confinement and created downloadable activities for kids to do both at home and in the parks.
New York City’s Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver is taking a similar approach with communications that encourage people to get out into parks safely. With regular photo posts from New York City parks on Instagram and Twitter modeling the correct outdoor distancing, he congratulates New Yorkers on staying 6 feet apart and the parks have even installed signage that helps everyone imagine the proper distance.
While in Akron, Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition and Akron Civic Commons has launched Messages of Hope and Inspiration. A call to community members to submit messages and artwork of encouragement that will be turned into signs and displayed along the Towpath Trail in downtown Akron, Ohio & Erie Canal Park and Summit Lake. The first 100 submissions received by this Friday will be printed and installed in the coming weeks.
Converting streets to human-powered activity
Cities all over the country have stay-at-home orders that allow people to get outside for exercise and fresh air. And yet in many neighborhoods, the sidewalks and parks can be too small to allow for the 6-foot distance between people. The solution? Close a few streets now empty of cars and allow people walking and biking to spread out as they get outdoors. The City of Oakland announced the biggest closure: up to 74 miles of “slow streets” for human-powered activity.
Other cities of all sizes are following suit: Minneapolis, Boston, New York City, Denver, Louisville, Philadelphia and Memphis have also closed some streets to cars to create more public space for residents to maintain physical distancing while encouraging people to continue to get outside to support their health. As we move fully into spring, demand is only going to grow, so we anticipate converting streets and other publicly owned land to public space will likely accelerate in the coming weeks.
Even just the sight and sound of nature offer some relief
Connecting to nature, especially during times of distress, has been shown to be beneficial to mental health. And research has shown that when outdoor exposure isn’t an option, videos and sounds of nature can still provide some of these benefits. With that in mind, a number of parks agencies are finding ways to share video of interesting natural sites during this pandemic.
The National Parks Service gives you the chance to watch wildlife from live webcams and take virtual tours of popular parks, like this one of Yellowstone National Park. The Indiana State Parks launched the #VirtualINStateParks campaign on social media several weeks ago, posting its own videos and asking organizations running or supporting outdoor experiences, along with individual Indianans to upload videos designed to give Indianans a taste of the outdoors even as they shelter in place at home. Videos include “creekbank potatoes” sizzling on an open campfire, wildlife in the wild and lectures from park rangers with activities for kids stuck indoors.
Even a simple Twitter post like this one capturing the sights and sounds of spring from Fairmount Park Conservancy in Philadelphia can offer a bit of solace during this tumultuous time.
As we move together through this pandemic, we will continue to highlight strategies for managing the public realm during a time when physical distancing is a must, and articles that capture the growing recognition of the importance of our civic commons for resilient communities.
Do you have an emerging practice you think we should promote? Share it in a comment below and we’ll curate another round-up in the coming weeks.
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
