UPDATE

Activating Broad Avenue Arts District and the Water Tower Depot is well under way. We have had a productive month creating momentum around the area. We are excited to start the planning process for the Broad Avenue Dance Festival. Broad Avenue business Collage Dance Collective is leading the committee on planning.

The festival will feature local and national dance groups as well as community dance classes. Dance has the great opportunity to break down barriers and gather people of all backgrounds together while learning a new move. The community dance piece will feature all types of styles from pom to ballroom. The festival will also coincide with the opening of the Water Tower Depot - a multi use performing arts space utilizing an active loading dock on the street.

We also continue to activate Broad Avenue through programming and activities focusing on art and bringing traffic to the street.

RECENT WINS

Broad Avenue Arts District was selected as a finalist in a local church grant, The Neighborhood Church. The grant focused on projects that benefit neighborhoods and create community. This project is important because a key component of creating a sustainable and vibrant Broad Avenue is to make the street fill alive and active. The combination of a growing retail district and ArtPlace Grant are all prime examples of successful creative placemaking. By creating shared community spaces on Board Avenue the street will become not only an art and retail district but also a place for collaboration and creativity.

A pocket park would create more opportunities for visitors and local residents to visit with each other, take a break from visiting local businesses and in general create community – reinforce the concept of Broad Avenue as a “Main Street” for the community. Vacant areas have the potential for trash and graffiti, by filling the vacant areas on Broad with seating, potted plants and activities we would be creating a space for community interaction and engagement. The park would also be a creative zone; games could be painted on the asphalt and checker boards could be painted or built into tables.

Also by partnering with neighborhood community organizations and schools it will further engage the neighborhood and the community build will be an outlet for collaboration between community members. The goal of the park is not only to create community places on Broad but also create a toolkit and resource for neighborhoods across the city to create their own pocket park.

INSIGHT

Take advantage of the momentum. Since the ArtPlace announcement and hiring of Coordinator of Creative Placemaking Broad Avenue has had the opportunity for increased community engagement and activity. Memphis has a whole has joined us in our excitement of Broad Avenue and this project. We continue to meet with new partners and stakeholders and grow our network of creativity and possibility. As we build momentum and capacity for programming on the street we align ourselves for a big debut of the Water Tower Depot and Broad Avenue Dance Festival.