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What is Park(ing) Day?
Photograph courtesy of CoWork Jax
PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco.
There is perhaps no better way to get people to look at public urban space in a different way, outside the car-storage paradigm. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.
The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!
In Jacksonville, the celebration of Park(ing) Day was the result of a collaboration between Downtown Vision, Inc., City of Jacksonville, Transform Jax and the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. This year's local participants included:
Burrito Gallery
Just Fitness
Daniel James Salon
Mad Men Marketing
CoWork Jax
One Spark
JAA Architectures
Greenscape
Trads Nursery
Zodiac Bar and Grille
Jax Bicycle Coalition
AIGA
St Johns Riverkeeper
Downtown Vision
Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville
Transform Jax
Photograph courtesy of CoWork Jax
Photograph courtesy of Mad Men Marketing
What's Next: Park Your Art
Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville, Transform Jax and the Moca Contemporaries will be teaming up for another event called ‘Park Your Art’ on Friday Oct 19th.
Artists, citizens, and local businesses are invited to transform a metered parking space into public artwork for a day. Use recycled materials and your imagination to build a piece of art worthy of your favorite cause on Friday, October 19.
Rules & Recommendations
- Build an art installation in a metered parking space downtown.
- Use at least 95% reused or repurposed materials to create your installation.
- Provide an enclosure for your space on the street borders.
- Allow The Contemporaries to document your space and its use throughout the day.
- We suggest partnering with an artist or non-profit to create awareness about a cause.
- Feel free to incorporate either ground cover, seating, shade, or all three — encourage people to spend time in your space!
- Utilize your own art, design, performance, and imagination skills in concert with unique materials to create a striking piece.
- Please do not sell anything from your parking space.
- Donate, recycle, or reuse your materials after the event, leaving your parking space cleaner and nicer than you found it.
From now until October 19, gather materials to create your artwork. If you are partnering with a non-profit, see if they have any discarded materials that you might use. Do enough work on your piece so that you can assemble it on-site during the two-hour set up time. Please remember that we’ll be outside — consider the breeze when planning your piece.
Arrive at MOCA early for 5:30-7:30 am set up. We’ll direct you to a parking space, feed the meters and capture public reaction/interaction with photography and film throughout the day. If you’re able, consider having a representative on-site to chat with folks as they come by. Be sure to come back downtown and take it all in during a fun Friday night downtown! Be prepared for clean up by midnight. We ask that you donate, recycle, or reuse your materials when finished.
Need inspiration?
Visit our Pinterest page and help us add to it!
Individual Team Entries are $25. Corporate sponsorships may also be purchased for $250.
Those interested in participating in 'Park' Your Art can sign up at www.parkyourart.eventbrite.com.
Article by Ennis Davis. Images by Ennis Davis, Melanie Pagan, and Gerald Joseph
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tufsu1
September 24, 2012, 09:16:13 AMfrom the folks at TransForm Jax....thanks to all who helped put this together and/or participate...and a big shout out to Mike Field for his hard work making this event happen!
Captain Zissou
September 24, 2012, 11:46:28 AMIt would have been a bit warm for spin class, but something about those bikes in the open air just seems so inviting. The parks look great and I am sure that they got a great reaction from the passers by. I wish I could have made it down there on Friday to see it all.
MelMel
September 24, 2012, 07:33:19 PMThe bikes from Just Fitness were a huge success, Captain Zissou. By the time I ventured over there, they had already gotten 37 people to ride one, including Alvin Brown. For every person who would get on a bike, they donated $5 to charity.
Noone
September 26, 2012, 04:31:07 AMCongratulations to all involved.
A successful P3.
Deregulation.
Adam W
September 26, 2012, 08:11:39 AMYou're venturing close to haiku territory there.
thelakelander
September 26, 2012, 05:13:15 PMJacksonville's Park(ing) Day and Transform Jax recognized by the National Recreation and Park Association
For full article: http://www.nrpa.org/Blog/Global-Pop-Up-Park-Event-Highlights-the-Value-of-Urban-Green-Space/