Al-Bustan at 40th St: Creating A Pocket Park of Culture & Community

Update November 20, 2018This past spring, Al-Busan began an initiative of developing a pocket park in West Philadelphia. The park was meant to be a publicly-accessible space for convening community and celebrating the co-creation of art, music, poetry, dance, cuisine and other forms of cultural storytelling.Al-Bustan has now come to the conclusion that it is no longer operationally feasible for us to proceed with the development of the pocket park as originally envisioned in this space in partnership with UC West.This has been a tough decision for our organization to make. We value the community connections that were forged through this process, and greatly appreciate the contributions many community members and organizations made through our meetings, public forums and fundraising efforts.Al-Bustan remains committed to community efforts in West Philadelphia and will continue contributing through cross-cultural programming across the city. June 2018Al-Bustan is undertaking an exciting new initiative!  As we seek to have more public presence in West Philadelphia, both in our programming and administrative office, we have an opportunity to create something purposeful along 40th Street.Building on the community relationships we fostered last year with the creation of a mural by eL Seed at Market/Preston Streets, and the arts-based tools and methods we've applied over the past 12 years in cross-cultural engagement work, we're now seeking to create a publicly accessible pocket park that is reflective of West Philly's diversity and history. In the coming year we hope to transition our office to the second floor of the adjacent building, creating a  communal library with space for arts instruction, recitals, and literary events. We envision this block between Chestnut and Ludlow to become a hub of culture and community.At a time when most developers are focused on new buildings and the bottom line, UC West has dedicated the open lot to be a publicly accessible pocket park with Al-Bustan as the lead community partner.Our vision for this open space takes inspiration from Andalusian-era convivencia — bringing together people from all walks of life and celebrating the co-creation of visual art, music, poetry, dance, cuisine and other forms of cultural storytelling. With community input, we want the design and programming of the park to be reflective of West Philadelphia’s diversity and history.[ngg_images source="galleries" container_ids="115" display_type="photocrati-nextgen_basic_thumbnails" override_thumbnail_settings="0" thumbnail_width="120" thumbnail_height="90" thumbnail_crop="1" images_per_page="8" number_of_columns="0" ajax_pagination="1" show_all_in_lightbox="0" use_imagebrowser_effect="0" show_slideshow_link="0" slideshow_link_text="[Show slideshow]" order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]The four community forums we held at the open lot in May, June, and July were attended by youth and adults from a variety of backgrounds and affiliations.  We learned a lot from these meetings, as well as the one-on-one conversations we've had and the questionnaires completed.  Some recurring impressions of West Philly include:

vibrant and cultural/racially diverse... many families, children, elderly, students--multi-generational... new and lifelong residents...in transition... gentrification with history of divestment... major institutional and college student presence often creates tensions...  potential for unity and collaboration among diverse constituents... variety of ethnic foods... good transportation services...

We also heard some important thoughts to consider as we move forward:

- Sustainable practices come from local people.- Artists in the neighborhood can help build the park culture.- The park would be a great place for exercise for the elderly, communal meals, a garden with seasonal plants and flowers, more trees, growing food, performances, and more...

We invite those who live/work/study/shop in the neighborhood to join us for upcoming forums and share your thoughts and suggestions as we create this public space for all to enjoy. We'll post weekly updates on our social media and e-newsletters. Our most recent public forum was featured in an article on WestPhillyLocal.Com