Arnold in Friendly Streets Placemaking

July 27, 2011

Alumnus Rudy Arnold is one of eleven artists chosen to participate in the Friendly Streets Placemaking projects and he will be leading the Neighborhood Flags project on July 22nd and August 12th in the Hamline/Midway neighborhood. Placemaking is people coming together and actively working to turn generic public spaces into community places where people can create connections with one another. By “activating” spaces with elements that encourage human interaction – from physical objects such as art, furniture, and plantings, to activities such as parties and games, a generic space can be turned into a place where community gathers, happens, and thrives.  The setting is the Central Corridor Friendly Streets Initiative, a project addressing the design and use of the residential streets immediately north of University Avenue during construction and operation of light rail. The Initiative will host a series of block parties this summer to introduce residents to concepts and methods such as creative placemaking and traffic calming to make streets more user friendly.

Other recent work of Arnold's is the documentation of a series of small businesses that build community in that neighborhood entitled Small Business as a Community Catalyst.