The chalky gravel that lies inside a one-acre empty lot next to community art space Alwun House sets a drastic contrast from the House’s tropical green trees.
For more than three years, residents have worked toward creating a use for the space that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. Last month, Phoenix City Council unanimously approved the plans for Green Art Park, a multiple-use project to be built in the empty lot in central Phoenix.
The plan was proposed by Alwun House, downtown Phoenix’s first nonprofit contemporary art gallery located on 12th and Roosevelt streets, known for revitalizing the once crime-infested neighborhood.
Alwun House was founded in 1971 by Kim Moody, who was born and raised in the Garfield Historic District where the art space resides. The home itself was built in 1912 and is now a historic property in the city of Phoenix.
What started as a need for more parking space turned into a park concept, now known as Green Art Park. In the park, members of the community can use the newly acquired land to rest, stop by for a quick coffee and admire sculptures and other works of art.
“Over the three years we have worked very hard and very firmly to focus the goal in the interest of our neighbors,” Moody said.
The Alwun House Foundation submitted a PUD, a planned unit development, to the City of Phoenix in October of 2011 with the help of the locally owned and controlled law firm Gammage & Burnham.
The PUD, which provides zoning, neighbor support and background history of Alwun House, includes 47 designated uses for Green Art Park.
A few of the permitted uses of Green Art Park are communal yard sales, live entertainment, parking, food trucks, art galleries and farmers markets.
“I’ve seen people plant trees in an empty lot and it’s a great occasion, but who waters them later on?” Moody said. “It’s a lot harder to create something that’s real.”
While $180,000 has already been invested in the acquisition of land, the project is still in need of $80,000 before the groundbreaking can begin, Moody said. Once the final funding is met, the city of Phoenix will contribute $100,000 to cover building costs.
A few ways to donate to Green Art Park are by purchasing $100 bricks, $500 plaques or by making a general donation. Moody said he hopes the money will be raised by December of this year so that the three-month-long building process can begin.
Composing the PUD was not done simply by working with the city of Phoenix. According to Moody, it was a combined effort that involved feedback and input from Alwun House’s neighbors.
Diana DeLugan grew up two doors down from the Alwun House, witnessing firsthand the evolution of the Garfield Neighborhood from a crime hotspot to a burgeoning arts community.
“At one time there were 25 gangs reported in our one-mile-radius community,” DeLugan said. “It became common to hear the sound of a gunshot.”
DeLugan credits Alwun House’s founding directors Moody and Dana Johnson for their diligence with the city of Phoenix to obtain an Operation Weed and Seed grant from the U.S. Justice Department. The grant was meant to help crime prevention and intervention, as well as to revitalize the neighborhood.
Years later, DeLugan said she began to get involved with the nonprofit along with many members of the community.
This led DeLugan to become the director of the Alwun House Garfield Youth and Leadership Group. She said her job was to empower children and teens to “cultivate positive change in their community.”
“It was crime prevention through arts,” she said.
DeLugan said she is looking forward to Green Art Park because it will allow for the new Garfield Neighborhood generation to have access “to an environment that engages their creative juices through the lush green trees, garden plants, murals and other art projects.”
Alwun House has expanded past the children of the Garfield Neighborhood by having an annual exhibit, Salon des Enfants. In the exhibit, children from the Phoenix Elementary School District in grades five through eight are able to showcase their artwork at the gallery.
“Alwun House is an oasis for artists of all ages,” said John Avedisian, the 10-year art department chair of the district.
“They have been gracious, donating free space to us over the years,” Avedisian said. “This will be our 21st year running the exhibit, and Greet Art Park will allow for an even greater turnout.”
The children whose artwork is sold at the event receive 100 percent of the profits, he said.
After visiting Arizona and discovering the Alwun House, New York native Raleigh Dombek decided to move into the Garfield Neighborhood so that he could be within walking distance of the nonprofit.
“It was just so cutting-edge for Phoenix,” Dombek said. “The diversity is what really drew me in.”
Dombek said he was a supporter during Alwun House’s process of approval from the city for Green Art Park.
“Normally you wouldn’t want to support a parking lot in a community, but they’re working with it in such a creative and friendly way that you can’t help but love the concept,” he said.
Dombek said he has helped contribute to Green Art Park by donating a brick with his daughter, stating that the littlest things can make a difference in that sort of grassroots community.
“The house has given its time, energy and resources to help the community become the vibrant place that it is,” Moody said. “With Green Art Park it’s no longer a little house – it’s an art center.”
The Alwun House has its season kick-off, Fall Fantango Fete, on Friday, Sep. 20 from 7 p.m. to midnight. Tickets are $20 in advance with dinner or $10 at the door without. The funds will benefit the Green Art Park.
Contact the reporter at lauren.maxwell@asu.edu
