Thursday, September 2, 2010
Back in the '80s, an older gentleman told me that
Stephen Foster sat under the park's paradise tree
and composed "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair."
I have my doubts, but it's a nice story.
Stephen Foster sat under the park's paradise tree
and composed "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair."
I have my doubts, but it's a nice story.
Date posted: 7/31/09 3:48 PM
"It's overwhelming, sometimes," says Donna Joyce, president of Friends of Paradise Park. "Emotional."
She's referring to the community support for efforts she's led to refurbish Paradise Park, which is tucked away in a corner of the Fan, bordered by Grove and Floyd Avenues, and the 100 blocks of Allen Avenue and North Vine Street. The alley side is screened by an alleé of juniper trees, and the centerpiece is a massive paradise tree.
If you think you know the Fan, but you've never heard about this place, you're not alone.
Diane Hayes, pausing in her creating of a flowing organic design alongside an abstract geometric sculpture, says, "A guy who's lived around here for five years came by yesterday and said he never knew a park was here."
Hayes is with the Mural Arts Program, a volunteer group affiliated with the nonprofit Richmond Recreation and Parks Foundation, which partners with the nonprofit Friends of Paradise Park.
Joyce, a New York City native, moved to Richmond about seven years ago and lives in a corner house with a back-porch balcony that peers upon the park through trees. She became concerned with the park's well-being due to the incidence of graffiti.
The park combines old Richmond aesthetics with a late-1960s urban design. It features a floor of brick, and the northwestern corner is framed by a curving wall that used to shield a sandlot that has in recent years given over to grasses. Another brick wall lines the southern side.
Joyce saw potential here, and she wanted to bring more recognition to Paradise. During the spring, she held meetings and brainstorming sessions in the park. One event was the 91st birthday of neighbor Nell Crawford, who, during the late 1960s, went door-to-door petitioning neighbors to demolish ramshackle garages in order to install the Carlton Abbott-designed park. Abbott is an artist and architect, and one of his recent efforts was the Jamestown Archaerium.
The park was built by the Fan District Association in partnership with Richmond and the federal government. Though designed in 1970, permit squabbles delayed its completion for four years.
Discussions this spring with the Fan District Association's parks and trees person, Betsy Coffield; the Rec and Parks offices; Hayes; and the 3rd Precinct Police Station produced the present plans.
Joyce is supervising the ongoing mural project, which is sprucing up the bare concrete forms with the handprints of children, garlands of leaves and other bright, solid yellows and purples.
She'd like to see more planned activities here, though the spontaneous occurrences are what parks are for. One aspect, though, are the periodic visits by skateboarders who can't resist caroming off the slanted oblong shapes of the central sculpture and the low walls.
"In a way, I like them being here because they utilize the park, and I think help protect it," Joyce says. "But I'd like for us to have a conversation about that."
Every morning a neighbor brings a cooler full of bottled water for volunteers, who usually number between five and seven painters. Joyce tells of a couple that gets their lunch at Ellwood Thompson and walks to Paradise to eat. Former residents are coming by to see what's going on here, and word of mouth — and bloggers — is getting the news out.
During a time of almost unrelentingly bad news, something simple and direct and not costing billions is occurring in Paradise. The paints and materials have largely been donated.
The big reveal will be hold on Aug. 8. From 11:30 a.m to 2 p.m., there'll be food, drink and crafts by the Visual Arts Center of RIchmond. At 12:15 p.m., the No BS Brass Band will march revelers around the corners of the block, and "Giant Parade Puppets" from the Visual Arts Center will also participate.
"It's the same day as the Johnny Z Festival," Joyce says, which will occur just a few blocks away and sponsored by Art 180. "We thought about changing the date; but people will be out and about in the Fan. I hope people will do both."
She's referring to the community support for efforts she's led to refurbish Paradise Park, which is tucked away in a corner of the Fan, bordered by Grove and Floyd Avenues, and the 100 blocks of Allen Avenue and North Vine Street. The alley side is screened by an alleé of juniper trees, and the centerpiece is a massive paradise tree.
If you think you know the Fan, but you've never heard about this place, you're not alone.
Diane Hayes, pausing in her creating of a flowing organic design alongside an abstract geometric sculpture, says, "A guy who's lived around here for five years came by yesterday and said he never knew a park was here."
Joyce, a New York City native, moved to Richmond about seven years ago and lives in a corner house with a back-porch balcony that peers upon the park through trees. She became concerned with the park's well-being due to the incidence of graffiti.
The park combines old Richmond aesthetics with a late-1960s urban design. It features a floor of brick, and the northwestern corner is framed by a curving wall that used to shield a sandlot that has in recent years given over to grasses. Another brick wall lines the southern side.
Joyce saw potential here, and she wanted to bring more recognition to Paradise. During the spring, she held meetings and brainstorming sessions in the park. One event was the 91st birthday of neighbor Nell Crawford, who, during the late 1960s, went door-to-door petitioning neighbors to demolish ramshackle garages in order to install the Carlton Abbott-designed park. Abbott is an artist and architect, and one of his recent efforts was the Jamestown Archaerium.
The park was built by the Fan District Association in partnership with Richmond and the federal government. Though designed in 1970, permit squabbles delayed its completion for four years.
Discussions this spring with the Fan District Association's parks and trees person, Betsy Coffield; the Rec and Parks offices; Hayes; and the 3rd Precinct Police Station produced the present plans.
Joyce is supervising the ongoing mural project, which is sprucing up the bare concrete forms with the handprints of children, garlands of leaves and other bright, solid yellows and purples.
She'd like to see more planned activities here, though the spontaneous occurrences are what parks are for. One aspect, though, are the periodic visits by skateboarders who can't resist caroming off the slanted oblong shapes of the central sculpture and the low walls.
"In a way, I like them being here because they utilize the park, and I think help protect it," Joyce says. "But I'd like for us to have a conversation about that."
Every morning a neighbor brings a cooler full of bottled water for volunteers, who usually number between five and seven painters. Joyce tells of a couple that gets their lunch at Ellwood Thompson and walks to Paradise to eat. Former residents are coming by to see what's going on here, and word of mouth — and bloggers — is getting the news out.
During a time of almost unrelentingly bad news, something simple and direct and not costing billions is occurring in Paradise. The paints and materials have largely been donated.
The big reveal will be hold on Aug. 8. From 11:30 a.m to 2 p.m., there'll be food, drink and crafts by the Visual Arts Center of RIchmond. At 12:15 p.m., the No BS Brass Band will march revelers around the corners of the block, and "Giant Parade Puppets" from the Visual Arts Center will also participate.
"It's the same day as the Johnny Z Festival," Joyce says, which will occur just a few blocks away and sponsored by Art 180. "We thought about changing the date; but people will be out and about in the Fan. I hope people will do both."
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