Really this kid-made (with help), delightfully unorganized, and the best-kind-of-messy place could be called a feral playground. In summer 2023 on the day I was there, the kids I saw hopping, shouting and exploring seemed to absolutely love it.
What’s not to like about a place that consists of thrown-together-looking, interesting objects and most of them available for climbing? I watched as a happy swarm of kids of various ages climbed over, under and through the wooden and metal structures and balanced and jumped on a giant teeter totter that fit several children on each side.
This 5.6 acre parcel community park with plenty of “scope for the imagination” to quote Anne of Green Gables, is located immediately adjacent to the train tracks at 1100 S. Royer St.
At the summer fundraiser event, (good!) food was provided for a donation and the entertainment for the day featured a variety of local artists’ acts. Two local drumming groups performed, and there were drum and dance performances by kids who had been practicing with expert adults from the community. Musician Judith Piazza and David Foster of Ormao Dance Company both led workshops for kids, culminating in what I experienced as inspired and engagingly natural shows. It was a very hot day, with not much cover or shade — but after rigging up my own two umbrellas, I found the experience quite enjoyable thanks to an easy-going vibe and breezy, genuine art performances.
Founder Steve Wood organized the non-profit endeavor with other community-minded residents twenty years ago.
He said in this 2019 interview with Susie Dummit of Colorado College’s Collaborative for Community Engagement, “There is a real lack of connectivity in our world… working together, sharing resources, and having fun doing it seems like a great strategy to form a framework for one’s life.”
#communityart #communityconnection
