The Chalk Up!, 2007
Next Project →Situated on a plateau in Pittsburgh and overlooking a valley carved by Negley Run and Washington Boulevard, difficult terrain surrounds Larimer on three sides. Relying on a series of bridges to provide connection with nearby neighborhoods, Larimer hovers at the periphery of city political, economic and social attention. Years of neglect have eroded the physical and social resources of the neighborhood. Publicworks Office responded by initiating a series of actions and events between 2005 and 2007 under the banner “Friends of Larimer.”
The “Chalk-Up” is an itinerant urban ephemera to increase opportunities for positive shared experiences in the public spaces of a neglected neighborhood and more positive representations of that neighborhood to the city at large.
Sidewalk chalk is provided for each participant to re-imagine nearby vacant lots. Polaroid and digital cameras are offered to record the proposal and proposer. A notebook holds both images, as an enduring record for all participants to examine as the project moves from block to block and as the images are worn away.
A flyer explains the project and provides contact information to provide greater transparency to the adults (often grandparents) who are always close by. All participants keep a Polaroid and a pin of their choice.
