Monday Murals: back to the Pop-up Park

 

It's time once again to join Sami at Sami's Colourful World and her Monday Murals.  Even though it's still Sunday in my world, please be aware that Sami's mural link goes live at 11:01 a.m. my time today.  

We are back at the Pop-up Park.  This is a sad tale of a once lovely and vital area in downtown Wichita, Kansas (USA). According to KMUW:

For years a large hole sat behind a fence on the south side of Douglas Avenue between Market and Main.

The result of a redevelopment plan that fell through in 2007, “the hole,” as it was known, was a fixture in downtown Wichita for almost a decade before developers filled it, converting it into the ICT Pop-Up Park.

Tables, chairs, umbrellas and even a ping pong table adorned the graveled ground. Less than a city block in size and in between two buildings, the space didn’t feel a whole lot different from the park just a block east. But a pass for food trucks to park there throughout the day started giving the park its personality.

In the five years it was open, the park became a destination for artists and downtown workers.  Then in September. 2020, it closed forever.  Again, according to a 2020 article by KMUW: 

After five years, the pop-up park in downtown Wichita has closed for good.

The park near Douglas and Market, funded in part by a Knight Foundation grant, was always meant to be temporary.

Developers haven’t decided yet what will replace the Pop-Up Park. Downtown Wichita says the same partners that originally built the park "will work with the community to reimagine the space, with the primary goal of challenging ways to think about and use public space."

A chain link fence at the spot now serves two purposes: blocking off the former park and showcasing the work of local artists. Kristen Beal is the founder of Harvester Arts, which is working with Bokeh Development and the Wichita Community Foundation to show artists’ work at the former park.

“The ChainLinkGallery is an effort to just continue to activate the site, but in a new way to keep people looking at it ... and let the public know that something is going to happen here,” Beal said. “So that they'll be watching for what's next.”

It appears every time I go past this area, there are new pieces of art.  Here are two I found in late November.

I have no idea who this artist is.

Believe me, I am NOT a prude, but I was very surprised to see such a risque painting in what should be a family friendly area.

I wonder if this painting will still be there should I visit in April.

As mentioned in the article, this park is located on the south side of the street between Douglas and Market in Wichita, Kansas (USA).

If you enjoy murals from around the world, please don't forget to visit Monday Murals at Sami's Colourful World.  Thanks for stopping by to visit Bleubeard and me today, too.  

 

This will be my final Monday Murals until April 24.  However,  I invite each of you to stop by daily beginning on the 1st and continuing for 22 days where I share something I recycle, reuse, reduce, rethink, re-invent, redesign, re-craft, recover, restore, rebuild, revamp, reclaim, and/or re-purpose to keep it out of the landfill or the recycle center.  It all ends on what others call Earth Day, but I call bEARTHday.