The Destination Frankford project team is elated to have the opportunity to further Frankford’s momentum as a neighborhood where creativity and innovation thrives. Destination Frankford, together with other city-led initiatives focusing on the revitalization of Frankford’s commercial corridor, the naturalization of the Frankford Creek, and the reactivation of Frankford’s industrial building stock will once again make Frankford a destination for creative, entrepreneurial businesses. We feel honored to be an ArtPlace America grantee amongst so many capable organizations and high-profile place-making projects.

In the first few weeks of June, we did a lot of planning and budgeting, and we got in touch with a local web design firm, whose offices are in a converted mill building right in the heart of Frankford. Our goal is to build a sophisticated project website capable of handling all of our art calls completely over the internet. We are also excited to welcome Kimberly Washington, the new Executive Director of the Frankford Community Development Corporation, to our team. With Kim on board, we will be able to better reach the diverse constituencies in Frankford.

In just the past three weeks, our project was featured on Naked Philly, Flying Kite Media, and Metro Philadelphia, and we are just getting started.

The ArtPlace team will join Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, Mural Arts executive director Jane Golden, muralist Cesar Viveros, and community members-turned-storytellers in Womrath Park on June 29 at 11:00 am, to dedicate the Imagining Frankford mural series. The Philadelphia Water Department will also showcase their beautiful new rain garden in Womrath Park, which helps keep pollution out of the nearby Frankford Creek. The juxtaposition of cutting-edge, sustainable stormwater management and community-driven art is truly inspiring. In the newly improved, historic Womrath Park, it is easy to envision the sustainable, creative, and industrious future of Frankford.