Community Canvas
There is a construction site at the end of our street. The high temporary fencing that surrounds it is made of plywood, and is painted matt black. We bought a box of large chalk and affixed it to the fence with rope and a nail. The next morning, on the Friday, the wall was already spotted with small chalk drawings. Over the weekend, which was blessed with good weather, the families of the neighbourhood engaged continuously, until it was covered by Sunday night.
A few days later the chalk had been taken down and big bold letters were stencilled onto the wall reading "No Bill Posters" and "Trespassers Will be Prosecuted". Over the next few weeks the wall was slowly being covered in gratify. Black and silver tags filled it after a few months and the sidewalk looked very different.
One day the wall was repainted and re-stencilled with the warnings, which had been ineffective the last time. Our project expanded. We painted over some of the stencilled signs in our own black paint and replaced the stencilling with our own. We decided to rename the wall as a Community Canvas. We added six boxes of chalk, more securely drilled into the wall, and positioned to communicate our intention of permanence and to encourage engagement. It is now June, and has been over a month since our latest intervention. The wall is refreshed by the rain, and we occasionally replace the chalk. The other day I noticed that someone else had added their own chalk.
The Community Canvas is a replicable, public intervention, capable of encouraging a community to engage with space wider then their own home. Consider a space in your own neighbourhood.
This project included Daniel Teitelbaum, David Abraham Michael, Amichai Lankri and Gabe Warren.
