It’s cold! And the green has disappeared from western PA. Some look forward to the beauty of snow, others simply want to curl up with a hot drink and remember warmer times. Here are greener times for you:
This summer, the Spaces in-Between site on the 1600 block of 7th Ave received 6 new apple trees. The team worked hard and quickly to plant the donated trees from Agway and the young saplings seemed to enjoy the space.
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Another group committed to the beauty of our city is the Beaver Falls Arts Council. The members of this council strongly believe that art and beauty have to be central in the work of revitalization. With this mindset, they’ve completed several projects over the past few years - the mural at Widmer’s (800 block of 7th Ave), the hanging mural (1400 block of 7th Ave), the mural at the Humane Society Thrift Store (unfortunately, they had to repaint over it), hosted an art show at Spring Fest one year, and hosted a fundraiser to install the community mosaic (corner of 7th Ave and 9th St).
As of this summer, they’re adopting a new set of goals for the council. Rather than planning new projects themselves, they’re turning their focus towards promoting, sponsoring, and supporting public art and local artists.
Though the system is not yet in place, they imagine a process where a local artist submits a proposal for a project, a Public Art Review Board would review and approve the project, then the Arts Council could help think through steps, coordinate volunteers and supplies for workdays, help collect and hold funds, apply for grants, provide oversight, facilitation, or any other type of support that might be needed.
The Public Art Review Board step is of particular interest to the group. They want to propose to City Council that every new piece of public art be approved by a Public Art Review Board, which would be newly formed each time a project proposal arose. The Arts Council is developing criteria for those boards, which would ensure that all Beaver Falls groups and demographics would be represented and have a say in the approval of art that becomes public.
These are the adjustments that the summer set in motion. Currently, the team is actively supporting Neighborhood North’s “playful learning landscapes” project and they are excited to extend their support to local artists as well.