Safer Neighborhoods, a sub-committee of Roanoke City’s Task Force to Reduce Gun Violence, seeks an artist to serve on the committee to help guide its vision for a public art project.
The committee’s primary purpose is to address the root causes that contribute to acts of violence and to create meaningful and transformative efforts that, with community engagement, will enhance Roanoke’s priority of safe and healthy neighborhoods. These priorities are indicative of community-based programs that address prevention, strengthen, and sustain relationships, and enhance neighborhood livability.
Ultimately, the interactive community story-telling public art project will be presented on an interactive GIS map available to all citizens to use, learning about parts of the city with which they may be unfamiliar, and growing our mutual understanding of each other’s lived experiences. While COVID precautions have affected plans to gather stories from citizens, the committee will meet virtually with various groups to begin the conversation. Once precautions have been lifted, the committee will attend neighborhood meetings, high schools, libraries, and public gatherings using a mobile chalkboard where people can answer short questions about how they perceive the safety of their neighborhoods. There will also be an opportunity to interact on a deeper level through a smartphone app or some other internet-based device.
Bring your creative vision to give shape to the public art project. The committee meets on the second Friday of each month for 1.5 hours with occasional Zoom, email and phone conversations between meetings. For more information, please contact the committee chair, Tim Harvey below.
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