PARK(ing) Day returns to Rochester this Friday!

PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where community artists, activists, organizations, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks. Since 2005, the project has blossomed into a worldwide grassroots movement: PARK(ing) Day 2008 included more than 500 “PARK” installations in more than 100 cities on four continents, including several in Rochester!

(Ours last year was a blast. Hammocks, sidewalk chalk, books, relaxation and good conversation. A perfect way to spend a Friday!)

Creating these temporary parks allows an additional place for rest, respite, and socializing. This year’s site, also at RoCo, will reflect the missions and current work of Rochester Contemporary Art Center(RoCo), RochesterCityLiving and The Landmark Society, affording visitors an opportunity to see what’s been lost to asphalt in this community, and to envision how this asphalt can be beautifully and productively reclaimed, thus illuminating the need, importance, and value of such spaces in our communities.

Come out on Friday to RoCo at 137 East Avenue and check out our park. This year’s park is being created with a partnership of RoCo, the RochesterCityLiving program of The Landmark Society, School Without Walls, the City of Rochester, and Barthelmes Manufacturing Company, Inc.

Make your own! Let us know where you’ll be. Anyone can participate in PARK(ing) Day, though it is strictly a non-commercial project, intended to promote creativity, civic engagement, critical thinking, unscripted social interactions, generosity and play. It was started in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design collective.

For more info on International PARK(ing) Day, see www.parkingday.org

posted by Laura Keeney Zavala, Director of Marketing