Okay, spring, no questions asked.
I have no idea where you have been or who you have been hanging out with. You are here now. That is what counts. And I am so grateful and happy to see you.
Come on in.
Now that you are here, I have lots of colorful, hopeful work to do and gardens to plant.
I am getting ready to install my recycled window box flowers on a vacant building in Trenton, NJ as part of a grant I received from the I Am Trenton Foundation.
Here is my vision photoshopped on a gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone.
And below is one of the locations I am considering doing my installation on.
It is across from a school with a beautiful new playground. And this is what the children see when they look across the street.
The very first house is owned by the City of Trenton and is one of two locations I am considering. It needs lots of love. More than just I can give it.
And that is what makes this a really good location.
It would get lots of love and attention from the school, from the students, from the community and from groups in the city that would come and clean it up.
Then I would plant a recycled garden in window boxes. A garden that says the kids on that playground are so worth it. This house is so worth it. And this neighborhood is so worth it. Worth our time and attention.
It is about neighborhood "stabilization" not just neighborhood revitalization. Neighborhood stabilization is a new word for me and a really important one. I know that my recycled flower window box gardens have the power to heal in their beauty and their story. And that has to do with me.
But the power of this run down home is that several groups have to come together first before I can do my installation.
And that just makes those little recycled flowers made from salvaged plastic signage a bit more magical.
This property calls for me to look past my vision of my project and see it as something bigger. To see it as a way to rally a larger group of people.
This little patch of spring flowers was fighting its' way through the mess in the front yard when I visited. If there is a will there is a way, right?
There were other signs of hope and renewal that day in Trenton.
Pieces of art and color in unexpected places.
And creativity.
My recycled flowers would look good in these window boxes too, wouldn't they?
I love this door.
My friends live here. They are so silly and brilliant. Cookie Monster is done in painter's tape. No, this was not done to delight a child; it was just done to delight themselves. And if it makes those passing by smile, all the better.
I will report back here as I move forward on my project. As I make the road by walking.
And as I step aside and make choices that expand my vision by letting other people's vision in.
That is where the beauty is. It is in collaboration.
And letting others take what you see and make it bigger and more powerful.
And most importantly, more healing.
ps. Art does heal. I know that for sure. And I know I want to plant these recycled flower box gardens on vacant buildings in cities across the United States. xo.