NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The parking spots blocked by Jersey barriers bookending Main Street are not for utility work or VIP parking but for incoming parklets.
Artist Jim Peters and his wife Kathline Carr, Director of Makers Mill, have been charged with designing one of the two temporary parklets - essentially extensions of the sidewalk for pedestrian usage - on Main Street for the upcoming DownStreet Art.
The parklets are part of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts' Berkshire Cultural Resource Center DownStreet Art call for an art project.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of DownStreet Art and artists have been selected to create murals, pop-up art, and the parklets.
Currently, the parking spaces are blocked off with Jersey barriers and traffic cones. What appears to be a parallel parking nightmare will soon become a temporary interactive green space that will flow from the sidewalk into the road.
Peters said he is in the process of building his earth loom park design.
"It is going to be an arch of natural wood… we will bring in stuff with it like weeds, old clothes, paper, and rags," he said. "We will have some trees cut up and stumps so people will have somewhere where they can sit and weave."
He said the looms will come in various sizes so kids and adults alike can interact with the park.
The second parklet is at the other end of Main Street near American Legion Drive and will be designed by another artist.
Peters said someone already took to his spot and wrote: "Driverless Car Bomb Parking" in the space – however, Peters changed the wording to something less hostile.
"I have no idea who wrote that there but I changed it to ‘Driverless Boar Band Parking’," he said. "It is going to be covered up eventually anyways."
He said he hopes to start putting the parklet together this weekend and have it completely ready for DownStreet Art.
"I am making it in my backyard right now and I am going to bring it down in pieces," he said. "It should be cool."
DownStreet Art is July 27.
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