What happens when you challenge people to build 400 years of history–forgotten bridges, forts, factories, etc.–along the Schuylkill River out of cardboard in just two days in a largely unknown public park along the River? You get local fisherman, high school students, grandmothers, designers, local community members, college students, skateboarders, and families from across Philadelphia and beyond—hundreds of people ages 3 to 81—spending hour upon hour relentlessly building and working together. Collectively, they dramatically activated and explored the history and beauty of a park that most had never visited, the Greys Ferry Crescent. Prior to the 2-day history making marathon, we worked with fifteen teens from nearby Audenreid High School to build picnic tables and work areas thereby setting the stage for the pop up outdoor maker space. The newly constructed tables were essential and ultimately used all weekend long from dawn to dusk by Camp Crescent participants as they worked together to build their cardboard structures. Unlike previous picnic tables in the park that were destroyed by ‘tagging’ not a single piece of graffiti has appeared on the tables built by the teens.
Posted on March 4th, 2014 at 9:48 am by publicworkshop in Our Work