Local experimental theatre company The Artist’s Laboratory Theatre will host a three-day “community visioning festival” in south Fayetteville next month.
The event, called Imagine South Fayetteville, will take place Nov. 16-18 at various locations around the south side of town.
To kick off the project, organizers last week issued a call for entries into a tactical urbanism challenge called “Hands On South Fayetteville.” For those who aren’t familiar, the term “tactical urbanism” refers to a recent movement featuring ordinary citizens that “create flexible and short-term projects to advance long-term goals.” Examples of tactical urbanism at work in Fayetteville include on-street murals at the intersection of Rock Street and Mill Avenue, and the Dickson Street Parklet in front of Blackboard Grocery on Dickson Street, among others.
For “Hands-On South Fayetteville,” organizers have asked for locals to propose their own tactical urbanism ideas for improvements to south Fayetteville. Those interested in submitting ideas should email project manager Cory Perry at [email protected] for details. The deadline to submit is midnight on Nov. 2.
The main festival will kick off with a PechaKucha event organized by local architecture firm, Modus Studio on Friday, Nov. 15. PechaKucha is a presentation style popularized in Japan that features presenters showing 20 slides for 20 seconds each, creating fast-paced, concise presentations on interesting topics. This event will take place at the old Spring Shop at 704 S. Washington Avenue, and the presentations that evening will be focused on “community-based solutions.” It starts at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, Nov. 17, Ozark Regional Transit will host a bus tour of projects created as part of a tactical urbanism challenge from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. The bus will pick up riders from the bus stop at South 15th Street, and South School Avenue, across from the Salvation Army. The bus rides will also include a performance of The Camp, part of an upcoming Artist’s Laboratory Theatre Play called Good Person of South Fayetteville. The rides/performances are free to attend.
The event will close with a workshop titled “Community Empowerment and Ownership” from 2-4 p.m. at the Senior Activity Center. The workshop will be led by Ellen Shepard from Community Allies in Chicago, a firm that works to “build local economies where prosperity and opportunity are accessible for all.”
The events associated with the festival are free to attend, but registration is required. For a bit more information about Imagine South Fayetteville, or to register for one of the events, visit artlabtheatre.com.
