Heart of the Community Parklet by Brose Partington from Big Car Collaborative on Vimeo.
As a part of the 2016-2017 Southwest Heart of the Community Grant, we commissioned Indianapolis artist Brose Partington to design and build a mobile parklet. The parklet’s goal is to provide comfortable seating in urban streets and plazas but with a mobile element. The functionality and mobility of this parklet allows endless opportunities for placemaking endeavors.
The first destination of our parklet begins at City Market’s East Plaza which is the primary focus of our HOTC project. You can learn more about the 2017 Heart of the Community Project here. The parklet, while functional, doubles as a work of public art. Brose Partington and Jim Walker, project manager of Spark Placemaking, collaborated together to ensure that the parklet has the artistic element and serves the fundamental rules of placemaking, which is to provide comfortable seating for all. You can watch the interview with Partington discussing the process of building the parklet here.
An unexpected result of our parklet is its popularity with performance artists. Here you can see a traveling busker who decided the parklet was a great spot for his performance. There were also planned performances such as the Pop-Up Opera, public karaoke, and classical music. Stay tuned for the parklet’s next destination and exciting performances!
