Thanks to everyone who helped make this year’s finale event for our Fairview Avenue project a fantastic success. An estimated 372 community members brought their bright ideas and creative energy to light up the underpass for one evening in October. Neighbors gathered for pizza and s’mores around the campfire, discovered ways to create, play, and share stories at our artists’ projects, and imagined how this space might be transformed into a community asset instead of just a run down, dark, dismal passageway. Our gallery of images was revamped with unique under-the-bridge ideas from around the world in addition to some of the infrastructure possibilities we’ve been looking at for the entire length of Fairview. A temporary buffered bike lane demonstration gave us a life-sized experience of one of many possibilities for this corridor. Colorful lighting by Avex along with the magical light creations of artist Heather Cole added to the playful atmosphere while drawing attention to the need for better lighting here everyday. Click here to see a storify list pulling together all the buzz from the event.
Did you miss watching the full 40 minutes of our Walk-In Cinema curated by Robyn Hendrix, or want to check something out again? Here’s the full lineup with links to check out these creative community projects online:
King Fuvi – Streetcars to Lightrails
Nick Clausen – Light the Victoria with Iny Asian Dance Theater
Jon Pavlica – The Urban Garden
Thabiso Rowan – Bach’s Trip to Union Park
Inukshuk Pass – Strong Convictions
Vivienne Corringham and Heather Berringer – Sounding this Space
Andrea Steudel and Aaron Marx – Secret Fortunes
Sarah West & Christopher Field – Establishing Shot
An online version of the Fairview survey is coming will be available through February, and then our next task will be to pull together the local knowledge, insights, and visions collected this year into a comprehensive report that can aid Union Park and Hamline Midway neighbors in taking next steps towards the Fairview Avenue they would most like to live, work, walk, run, bike, drive, and play on. Additional work on the underpass will also continue with our Better Bridges Green Line Challenge project. We have our work cut out for us, and are excited to dig into these next steps!
Word cloud of responses to Mira Kehoe’s Water Under the Bridge Living Statue performance, which asked participants to write down their ideas and concerns about what to do with the excess water that pools in the Underpass area.