By Kate Bordine

Over the last couple weeks, Team ArtMe has been walking up and down Waters Ave to talk to local residents and business owners. Our conversation pieces are the 28 concrete planters which dot the sidewalk between Victory and Wheaton. Of this set, 6 are well cared for, and our purpose was to gauge the communities interest in the 22 seemingly abandoned planters. After the team assessed the placement and locality we decided it was time to take action. We started walking at Jerome Meadows studio, Indigo Sky, and began by simply picking up trash and knocking on doors.

As we walked we drummed up conversations with community members along the way. Most were curious observers who started asking questions about our ongoings. We then spoke to the small business owners, bridging relationships to find out their desired plans for their unactivated planters. These forgotten objects were beginning to become points of discussion.

People were beginning to respond and it started a ripple of conversations. We left behind evidence of our actions with friendly notes that stated, “This is not an ashtray” and “Plants grow here.” A week has past since this cleanup event and it was now time to go back and assess conditions. This is what we found:

A quick observation: The planters are still trash free! It might be too soon to assume complete community cooperation but it sure is an encouraging step in the right direction.

Perhaps people are beginning to reconsider the potential for these planters and intentionally being an active part of the conversation. This seemingly small act of doing has taken on a movement of its own the potential these vessels to connect people together is still unforeseen, but it might be the trigger that fosters a healthy community. Wishful thinking perhaps, but why not?!