Park(ing) Day 2013 comes to Downtown Woodstock, Friday, September 20, 2013

In addition to GROW, Woodstock West by Walton Apartment Homes, Foxtales Book Shop and Woodstock Elementary School will also be creating parklets in the Downtown Woodstock area. A map with locations will be available onsite.On Friday, September 20, 2013, from Noon – 5:00 PM, in cities around the globe, artists, activists and ordinary citizens will temporarily transform metered parking spaces into public parks and other social spaces, as part of an annual event called "PARK(ing) Day." 

Originally invented in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco-based art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure. “In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution,” says Rebar’s Matthew Passmore. “The planning strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant human habitat. PARK(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the urban landscape.” 

Locally, GROW (Green Reaps Opportunities for Woodstock) will have an interactive space featuring a painting that literally comes to life. Beginning at Noon, and then on the half hour, in collaboration with Elm Street Cultural Arts Village performers, characters from the Georges-Pierre Seurat painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” will appear throughout the Downtown Woodstock area as they make their way to the GROW Park(ing) space to take their final places in this Masterpiece Painting. The community will be encouraged to walk along and observe and participate.

For more background on the painting: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte.