Kids of all ages helped paint Holden Street.

Downtown celebrants may notice the absence of Maya III. The Jarvis Rockwell creation has been a major draw on Main Street since its creation two years ago as part of Downstreet Art.

Not worry. Jonathan Secor tells that the ever-changing piece with its hundreds of action figures is having a "respite" for a few months until a new home is fixed for it at 49 Main St. later this fall.

The relocation is the result of some movement of businesses along the main drag. Maya's location at 73 Main St. is being taken over by Janice Esoldi and the expansion of her chocolate empire. I've Got Goodies, which opened in the former Moulton's General Store, moved into 85 Main St. last year. Business has been good, Esoldi told us a couple weeks ago, and her shop needs more room.

Esoldi informed the Planning Board of her relocation at the last meeting and her plan is to have the new shop operating before the holidays arrive.

Meanwhile, the former Newberry's that was left vacant when Moulton's moved to Adams will have a new occupant with Shear Madness. Owner Kim Oakes said the salon needs more room and wants to stay on Main Street. She wasn't sure when the move would happen because of the work that needs to be done in the building. We have't seen anybody working in there yet so it could be awhile.

It isn't be the best time for Maya to move. Downstreet Art's "Last Thursday" gallery opening is tomorrow and the summerlong event doesn't end until Open Studios in October. The large installation is one of the most popular on the street, drawing hundreds of visitors on a weekend, said Secor.

It should be back up by the holidays but it has to wait for the Gallerie Haiti to complete its run in the space next to Gallery 51. The lack of space is a bit ironic, noted Secor. Art's been used to fill up the empty storefronts — which are now so full there's no place open for Maya.

Preparations for the city's annual Downtown Celebration began this afternoon, despited the continued construction at each end of Main Street. We're particularly eager to see what happens on Holden Street, where Sidewalk Sam was overseeing the layout of grid lines on the pavement.

The Boston icon is leading a group of volunteers — pretty much anyone who stops by to paint — to recreate a colorful Matisse painting that he says symbolizes the life and light of the Hoosic River that flows through the city.

The blue river "runs through a landscape and full of life and organisms that are full of the bounty of life, bursting out in color and variety on the ground," said Sam. "We're going to have hundreds of people creating this symbol of life and succulence."

The project, known as Holden StArt, is preparation for a much bigger project planned next year.

Also on tap will be entertainment, food and sales. A dunk tank will be set up and we hear some city councilors will be in the wet seat.

The streets shut down at around 4:30 p.m.; Holden has been partially closed since noontime.

Anyone driving down Main Street knows when the city's annual neighborhood block party happens this year: it's prominently displayed on the Mohawk marquee. But if you haven't ventured downtown (and why not?), the date's Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Main, Holden, Eagle and upper Ashland streets will be shut down from 5:30 to 9 on Wednesday evening so more than 45 vendors,  merchants and organizations (nearly half of which are restaurants or food servers) can set up shop along the city's main drags.

Entertainment will be provided throughout the evening on Eagle Street and different locations along Main Street. Visit iBerkshires at 106 Main St. for free popcorn.

North Adams historian Paul W. Marino will lead a historical walk of Main Street at 5. Those interested should meet at the foundry works marker across the street from the Office of Tourism and above Subway Restaurant. At the Berkshire Plaza, the Drury High School band, directed by Christopher Caproni, will perform beginning at 6. At 7, the popular Berkshire County Line Dancers will take the stage in front of the plaza.

In front of Greylock Federal Credit Union at 66 Main St., Karen's School of Dance will perform at 6 followed by a show presented by the Berkshire Dance Theater at 6:15. Next to TD Bank and iBerkshires, Otha Day will perform with approximately 30 drummers at 7. Also at 7, Traci Kittler and Champagne Jam, sponsored by the North Adams Transcript, will play at 85 Main St. Miss Guided will also play at 7 at the corner of Holden and Main streets.

The duo Whirlwind will play near 15 Eagle St., beginning at 6. The popular Loose Change, sponsored by Adams Cooperative Bank, will perform in front of 31 Eagle St. beginning at 7.

One of the more interesting attractions of the night will be the Holden Street Art, or "Holden StArt." Volunteers led by Boston sidewalk artist Sidewalk Sam will use 1,000 square feet of pavement as a canvas for a chalk painting. The event is a preliminary effort to a larger public art project being developed by Art About Town for the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art's excess parking lot behind the Big Y.

To volunteer or for any other questions about the installation, call 413-664-0197.

 The public is also invited to tour DownStreet Art galleries, which will be gearing up for the Aug. 26 "Last Thursday" gallery openings. Other evening attractions include a first-ever Downtown Celebration dunk tank, provided by Drury band boosters, at 48 Main St. near American Legion Drive and displays and sales from downtown merchants.

The celebration was originated in 1996 as a way to celebrate downtown beautification efforts and became an annual event. Rain date for the celebration is the next night, Thursday, Aug. 26. For more information on the celebration or the Holden Street Art project, contact the Office of Tourism at 413-664-6180 or northadamstourist1@yahoo.com.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A dedicated group of youth and adults are hoping to "refresh" the dream of a skatepark in the city with the help of PepsiCo.

Members of UNITY (United, Neighboring, Interdependent, Trusted Youth) and its umbrella organization, Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, have been working on a plan for an action sports or skate park for a number of months and have partnered with the city and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to develop one.

The group is hoping that the community will not only support a park but help fund it by voting in Pepsi's "Refresh Project." The soft drink company is offering up to $250,000 in grants each month for worthwhile community projects supporting health, neighborhoods, the arts, eduction,  food and shelter and the planet. The projects have to be "beneficial, achievable, constructive, and 'shovel-ready' (meaning it can be finished within 12 months of funding)," according to the site.

The company has been accepting 1,000 projects a month and doling out grants since February. Award winners are selected based on their leaderboard positions — in other words, the projects that are boosted to the top by voters. The two top proposals receiving the most votes online by the end of the month each receive a $250,000 grant; other grants from $5,000 to $50,000 will go to the top 10.

Emily Baker-White, a Mount Greylock Regional High School graduate who's working with UNITY as summer intern from Oberlin College, said the group had gotten the project accepted for voting in September.

Baker-White doesn't know how many votes are needed as Pepsi won't release the information on the number of votes past winners received. "Our community may be small but we are a close community, and it is easier to bring people together and spread the word. In large communities the message might get lost," she said. "I really think we have a real chance to win this, so vote every day in September."

So far, the only Massachusetts project we could find on the site that was funded was $5,000 to Greg Johnson for biking 192 miles for cancer research for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute back in May. Johnson's proejct was in the top 10 for his category (health) and amount. The town of Greenfield, Ohio won $25,000 for its own skate park in July.

There was lots of energy and excitement at the volunteer meeting last Tuesday to plan a get-out-the-vote campaign for this contest, with about 30 youth and adults gathered at the NBCC offices downtown. Many of the youth were BMX bikers and if the park is set up well, bikers and skateboarders will be able to share the park, making it more proper to call it an "action sports park."

The brainstorming session brought out ideas and willingness to put out fliers and information through every means of communication the group could come up with. Expect to see a catchy message to vote all over the city. 

The meeting was organized by UNITY teens from the leadership program with support from Baker-White and Kate Merrigan, UNITY program coordinator. UNITY is NBCC's youth development program and the Youth Leadership Program is a leadership training and community service-learning program that meets weekly during the school year to encourage youth expression and  involvement in their communities.  

The planning group will meet again on Monday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m. in the NBCC offices on the second floor of 61 Main St. In an e-mail reminder about the meeting, Baker-White said, we hope to see everyone back tonight for our second meeting — voting looms ever closer, and we'll need every volunteer and every idea we can get. Thanks so much; I'm pumped to see you all there!"

Voting on the Pepsi Refresh Project website will begin Sept. 1 and last through Sept. 30. If you have a Facebook account, you can log on directly, otherwise you will need to go to www.refresheverything.com and create an account with Pepsi to vote. Voters must be age 13 or older and may vote once each day online and make a second vote by texting a five-digit number, which will be released in time for the September voting period. 

If you can't attend the meeting, but have ideas or would just like to help, contact Baker-White at ebakerwhite@nbccoalition.org or Merrigan at kmerrigan@nbccoalition.org or by calling the coalition office at 413-663-7588. Keep updated by joining the group's Facebook page.

Once the voting begins, iBerkshires will have links to the project on our home and Facebook pages.