Park(ing) Day Prizes

So far we have two delectable prizes to award to the best parks around the city and are currently combing the neighborhood for more. If you're a local business and would like to donate a prize, please let us know.

The first will be a gift certificate from Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream and Tea Room, one of our sponsors last year as well.


The second confirmed prize will come from mini-empire artisan baking. If you came to the central park last year, you may have had a chance to sample some of their earlier work at the award-winning zen-cakes and zines park.


Also, make sure to stop by our Park(ing) Day installation in the empty storefront at 7th and Jackson during this Thursday's art walk, September 2nd, to try a few of the treats that mini-empire's is donating!

More prizes will be announced as they are confirmed.

Park #4 - Alleycat Acres

I came in last night -- or, technically, this morning - and checked my email, only to find an application for our fourth park, by the good urban farmers at Alleycat Acres. I suppose they don't really need an introduction, but here is a good story at the Seattle Post Globe about the group's genesis.


This is only one of the many websites posting stories about this fantastic group, as anyone who has been reading over the last few months can attest. A few months ago I posted the video that GOOD magazine produced about their first farm up on beacon hill, and I've been known to name drop them while writing mean emails about McDonald's localwashing campaign.

In short, I couldn't be happier about them participating in the Park(ing) Day Central Park. Keep an eye on them though, they might end up taking over the whole space and turning it into a farm!

If you want to join them and others at our Park(ing) Day Central Park, just download the registration form.

Park #3 - Alloy Design Group

We just received word that park #3 will be hosted by Alloy Design Group, a design/build firm operating out of the Central District.


While the specifics of their space remain undisclosed -- though there have been intimations of a tetherball park -- a quick look through their website shows professional work like this:


I doubt I can persuade them to build a quarter-size mockup of any of their professional work, but am excited to have designers of this caliber participating in the event.

You can download the registration form to build your own park here.

PPL and Feet First at 1st Thursday Art Walk

And guess what we'll be doing? That's right, promoting Park(ing) Day.

Thursday, September 2nd, we will be setting up in a vacant storefront at the corner of 7th and Jackson in the International District, thanks to Christa Thomas of the brite collective and WKND, one of the artists selected by the Seattle Storefronts program to set up shop in a vacant space.

We will be setting up a PARK similar to those which people will build on Park(ing) Day and make a push to sign up more participants.

Why, one might wonder, are we going to promote an event that is, in part, centered in Capitol Hill, in the I.D.? For one, the I.D. is lacking in open space and is on the verge of making a move to increase it. A recent pro-parks levy has provided funding to expand Hing Hay Park into the area now occupied by the former post office. Secondly, with increasing interest in redeveloping the southern portion of the city into an area with parks, green streets, and mixed-use housing, now is an opportune time to try and reach out to the community to ensure that their voices are heard when designs come into being. Since Park(ing) Day is all about community engagement, Christa and some of her associates, like Nin Truong, hope to use the opportunity to connect with neighborhood residents.

To do this, the plan is to help promote Park(ing) Day all around the city, to provide a space to show how small groups envision parks, and to do a follow-up Park(ing) Day event on Saturday, September 18th. Christa has also graciously offered to have the winners of the citywide best park competition set up there work in her storefront for a month or so after the event (here are all the winners from last year).


[grand prize winning park from last year, photo by Signal to Noise]

And this is just a hint at the extent of potential Park(ing) Day festivities for 2010. An event for the evening of Friday, September 17th is being discussed with the good people from Streets for All Seattle. Check back early next week for more information.

All of this notwithstanding, the major part of Park(ing) Day is community participation, so if you'd like to build your own miniature park, download the registration form and get to designing!

Central Park Flyer

Thanks are owed to several folks for cooking up this flyer: Brett Wiseman drew the original art for us last year and Web Crowell added some pertinent information. Mel Burchett, one of the two ladies hosting [stories from] the table at belmont and pine, reworked it for this year's event.

Park #2 -- Office Nomads

Upon opening my mailbox earlier this evening, I found an application from the good folks at Office Nomads for their Park(ing) Day park. This makes it the second year in a row that they have participated in the Central Park; here is a photo of their co-working space from last year.


One of the highlights of their park is that they will provide wi-fi access to anyone who needs internet access during the day. So if you'd like to participate and still have some work to do, their co-working park is the perfect place for you. I would also like to say that I especially welcome their participation because their business is founded on re-envisioning space. While Park(ing) Day is about converting unfriendly outdoor spaces to inviting places, I would say Office Nomads is about doing the same for the office environment: as a reformed high-rise worker, I can vouch for the difference in the two settings.

And not to show all my cards, but emails regarding a park being hosted by a design journal that participated last year have been circulating. Here's the registration form if you'd like to build a park too.

McDonald's Follow-up

Just realized I have yet to receive a response from the ad agency responsible for those McDonald's local food ads, so I just sent this message off:

Ms. Yamaguchi and Ms. Madison,

I have yet to receive a response from my previous message (forwarded below) and thought I would write again in case it got lost in the daily shuffle. As you may know, earlier this week the Seattle City Council passed changes to the urban agriculture code, making it possible for groups involved in local production to grow and sell their crops.

Urban Farm Hub has a good summary here:

http://www.urbanfarmhub.org/2010/08/seattle-city-council-passes-urban-ag-code-changes/

Since both McDonald's and OMD/DDB appear to have an interest in local food production, it seems that this would be the perfect time to come out to one of Alleycat Acres' sites and take a look around. Sean, the founder, is very excited about the opportunity to show you both what is happening at the grassroots level.

Hope to hear back from you soon,
Keith
http://peoplesparkinglot.blogspot.com

Again, I invite you to send your own messages as well. Here is contact info for the three ladies that appear to be spearheading this advertising campaign.

Laurel Yamaguch (DDB ad agency) Laurel.Yamaguchi (at) sea.ddb (dot) com
Paisley Madison (McDonald's, local) paisley.madison (at) us.mcd (dot) com
Tara Abrams-Levine (OMD, marketing firm) tara.abrams-levine (at) omd (dot) com