Uniting in the Commons, Part 2
Practices for bringing together people of all backgrounds in public spaces
A key goal for Reimagining the Civic Commons is to create places where everyone belongs, and that generate opportunities for shared experience among people of all incomes and backgrounds. We believe civic assets, when designed, operated and managed with intention, can be a place of common ground for everyone, where we can foster empathy and trust across diversity.
Research shows that Americans are increasingly polarized, segregated and isolated from one another, and that economic inequality is increasing. These trends are negatively impacting our health and well-being and the prosperity of our communities.
Today, too many people live in communities where they rarely encounter others from different economic, social or racial backgrounds, precisely the activity we need to grow bridging social capital, improve health, provide economic opportunities and generate trust.
Earlier this month, we released Investing with Intention: Socioeconomic Mixing, a publication that documents the multiple benefits of creating public places where everyone belongs. Today we bring you the second article in a two-part series on practices and projects that are intentionally bringing together diverse people in public spaces with examples from Chicago, Detroit, Macon, San José and Philadelphia.
Creating Beauty and Sustaining Community in Chicago
On September 2, Rebuild Foundation opened its newest community asset on the South Side of Chicago: Kenwood Gardens. Artist, educator and social innovator, Theaster Gates transformed 13 contiguous vacant city lots (equal to 1.3 acres) in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood into a thriving community garden and greenspace. The formerly abandoned land has been transformed into a blossoming oasis filled with native and regionally appropriate plants. Since unveiling this asset to the public, Rebuild Foundation has created space for meditation, educational programming and more opportunities for artists, friends and neighbors to come together in this beautiful public space. This work will continue to catalyze new thinking about the ways in which urban gardens and outdoor programming can strengthen communities.
Kenwood Gardens was brought to life with the help of local neighbors, horticulturists and landscape architects, whose collaborative efforts were honored and celebrated at the premiere gathering. Community members, supporters, funders and partners inaugurated the garden with a ceremony celebrating the transformation of this space. With remarks from Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Alderman Leslie Hairston, the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s Artistic Director David Brown and Dr. Carol Adams, the inaugural event at the gardens brought together Chicagoans from all walks of life. From neighbors and students to elected officials and artists, Kenwood Gardens welcomed Rebuild’s community from across the city’s 77 neighborhoods. Thanks to performances by Yaw Agyeman and DJ Duane Powell, Kenwood Gardens was alive with the spirit of community and the soulful sounds of the South Side, providing a glimpse of the future possibilities and programs that will grow in this garden.
Building Pathways for Connection in Detroit
Detroit’s Fitzgerald neighborhood has been transforming in many ways over recent years, thanks to work by the City, non-profit partners and residents engaged in Detroit’s civic commons efforts. Located northwest of Detroit’s downtown, the significant investment in Fitzgerald includes the rehabbing of formerly vacant homes, the creation of new “community meadows” and greenway, and the construction of Ella Fitzgerald Park. Streetscape improvements on the nearby commercial corridor include wider sidewalks, a two-way bicycle track, bus islands and bus shelters, and improved pedestrian lighting and street furniture, all of which make up the landscape of McNichols Road.
This focus on neighborhood assets, and particularly the McNichols streetscape, is particularly important as the high price of auto-insurance and vehicle maintenance in Michigan means that not everyone has access to personal vehicles and many people must get around by other means. Decades’ worth of vehicle-oriented development in the “Motor City” has meant that pedestrians, bus riders, and bike riders have not been prioritized, but the new streetscape development in Fitzgerald is a start. It centers the safety and street level experience of non-auto users in a way that is new and refreshing for Detroit neighborhoods.
These streetscape improvements have also come about in conjunction with the expansion of MoGo, metropolitan Detroit’s non-profit bike share system, to neighborhoods north of downtown, including Fitzgerald. This expansion is particularly exciting for Detroit because it is one of the only tri-county transportation networks in the history of localized regional transit in southeast Michigan. Via the MoGo network, Detroiters have easy and convenient access to Detroit’s northern suburban cities, including Ferndale, Royal Oak, Hazel Park, and Berkley, and the city’s suburban neighbors can use the MoGo network to connect to Northwest Detroit. MoGo stations have been created all along McNichols Road in Fitzgerald, as well as one at Ella Fitzgerald Park.
Safe access routes through the Greenway and McNichols allow residents to travel safely through the neighborhood to local institutions and attractions, such as the Marygrove Conservancy and the University of Detroit Mercy. These improvements provide opportunities to a diverse set of people including pedestrians, bus riders, bike riders, motorists, neighborhood residents, visitors, and students to share the road with one another — and creates pathways for people to conveniently and safely access the new and revitalized public spaces in the neighborhood.
Elevating Community Voices in Macon
Rosa Parks Square is a shady greenspace in Macon, Georgia, nestled between City Hall and City Auditorium in the city’s historic downtown. It has been reinvented and reimagined many times: originally conceived in 1978 as Macon’s Civic Plaza, it became a parking lot for decades before being renamed for the Civil Rights hero, Rosa Parks in 2005. Next year, it will change again, as Rosa Parks Square is slated for a massive design upgrade.
While this space has always captured the imagination of Maconites who envision its potential, it is also emblematic of civic spaces that lack investment. In 2015, Rosa Parks Square was included as part of the Macon Action Plan — a comprehensive, community-driven plan to reimagine Macon’s urban core. In that plan, community leaders and residents saw its future as an important civic plaza with the ability to create improved connections among residents and as a place of protest and free speech. The Plan envisioned a Rosa Parks Square with robust programming and activities that are grassroots in nature and reach a diverse audience.
In June, two Macon Civic Commons team members combined forces with Knight Foundation to bring a TEDx event to the Square. TEDx is a grassroots initiative of the larger TED organization, giving local communities the ability to invite their own live speakers to share ideas that matter. With Macon’s city hall as a backdrop, Maconites from various backgrounds and interests told stories of their work and lives in Macon. As organizer Andrea Cooke described it:
“I knew the wonderful stories we would hear were meant to be told in THIS beautiful park, that represents protest, protection and perseverance…the trees and the monuments were a perfect backdrop for the event and we knew it was meant to be when the rain held off long enough for us to finish the show. I hope we honored the memory of Rosa Parks and all the others who find a home in our favorite park.”
Rosa Parks Square demonstrates how the intentional reinvention of space for people can open the doors for more people to feel like their voice matters. In centering civic engagement in this park, the Macon Civic Commons team and its partners are working to ensure people of all backgrounds feel welcome.
Showcasing Diverse Narratives Through Public Art in San José
To promote social cohesion during a time of physical distancing, the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy and San Jose Walls created the Guadalupe River Art Walk initiative, a new artist-in-residency program to connect people to place through public art. Started in 2020, the goal of the initiative’s expansion in 2021 is to showcase the diverse creative community and underrepresented narratives in downtown San José’s largest parkland, and leverage the power of parks and public art to spark civic inspiration and social connection.
Artists in residence included Roan Victor, Kristina Micotti and Alfonso Salazar. Victor is a local community arts leader, educator and business owner. Her use of natural and human-figure imagery highlights the link between river and life, and honors the flora and fauna of the Guadalupe River Park.
While already an accomplished illustrator, Micotti created her first mural through the Art Walk initiative. Her mural draws inspiration from both the wildlife and the people along the River Park, creating a bright and whimsical experience along the trail that weaves under downtown San José’s main thoroughfare, Santa Clara Street.
Alfonso Salazar’s first mural, “El Tarasco,” from 1986, is credited as one of San José’s earlier contemporary Chicano murals, before it was whitewashed in 2011. Following his retirement after a career with the United States Postal Service, Alfonso returned to mural painting and applied his signature artistic process to honor the Muwekma Ohlone People who have inhabited the lands that include San José since time immemorial. The central figure in the mural is a portrait of the current Muwekma Council Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh. The mural is a declaration that the Ohlone people and culture are still present and thriving.
The murals created by the artists in residence have brought diverse communities together to reflect and enjoy the meaning and power of public art. Even when the pandemic has required physical distancing, public art remains a means to spark conversation, community and beauty.
Sharing Culture and Community in Philadelphia
Every Saturday in June, South Philadelphia families and friends were able to travel around the world, just by walking to their neighborhood park. That’s thanks to “Culture at the Park,” an event series that celebrated a different culture every week at Bardascino Park. Each Saturday, the .2-acre park transformed into a different world, featuring the cuisines, activities, and traditions of a specific culture or country, including Asia, Mexico, and Colombia. On the first Saturday, kids and adults visited with staff from the nearby Charles Santore Library to celebrate Chinese culture by reading books, doing arts and crafts and enjoying tasty treats.
“They traveled to a country 7,000 miles away by simply walking to their local park,” said organizer and Friends of Bardascino Park member Alvaro Drake-Cortes. “Isn’t that something?”
“Culture at the Park” was a collaboration between volunteers from various South Philly public spaces, including Bardascino Park and Charles Santore Library. The goal was to bring together neighbors of different cultures and backgrounds and celebrate the diversity of the local neighborhood. Bardascino Park, located in the Italian Market neighborhood, is home to different communities, including Italian, African American, Asian, and Central and South American communities.
“Culture at the Park” was supported by a Neighborhood Collaboration Grant from Fairmount Park Conservancy, the Knight Foundation, the Free Library of Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. This grant encourages civic spaces–parks, libraries, and rec centers–in the same neighborhoods to collaborate with each other.
“It felt liberating,” said Drake-Cortes, of hosting the first in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic began. “It was liberating because it was an opportunity to learn about someone else’s culture with little pressure. We were all here for one another. It was also a family-friendly activity that allowed us to reinforce the nurturing seeds of tolerance, acceptance, and openness to diversity in children, who will one day grow into voting citizens.”
Reimagining the Civic Commons is a collaboration of The JPB Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, William Penn Foundation, and local partners.
