Culliton Park Neighbor Engagement
Community input was critical to ensure that neighbors could feel ownership over the park. We worked closely with the SoWe neighborhood group to gather input, share designs, and get feedback, but also found creative ways to reach neighbors of the park that may not be connected with the SoWe group or were unable to attend meetings. Salina Almanzar was commissioned to create small, temporary public art projects that could start conversations about the upcoming park renovation. These projects and conversations started in Spring 2018 and evolved into a project, called “Art Pop,” that continued through Fall 2019 when park construction began.
(Lancaster Public Art Website, 2021)
Examples of integrated art elements in other parks were used to start conversation among neighbors at a Spring Open Streets event next to the park site. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
Neighbors discussing potential artwork elements with artist Matthew Geller. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
Drawings of playground elements that local kids wanted. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
The seeds for "Art Pop" began in Spring 2018 with a project created by Salina Almanzar called "Love Notes to a Park." Neighbors tied notes about the park to a chain link fence surrounding the site. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
Notes as part of "Love Notes to a Park." (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
Mind map poster created by Almanzar and neighbors as part of "Art Pop" in the summer of 2019. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
Artist Salina Almanzar works with participants at one of the 2019 "Art Pop" events. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)
Community members create pieces that talk about their neighborhood and the future of the park during one of Salina Almanzar's "Art Pop" events. (Photo: Sara Code-Kroll)