As
Flying Kite transitions from its most recent
On the Ground residency at
Asian Arts Initiative, it’s worth looking back on neighborhood voices from the past few years. After all, this area just north of Center City has many names and many stories.
Last week, we spoke with
Mural Arts freelance project manager Dave Kyu. He's
been involved with the Asian Arts
Social Practice Lab since 2012. His past projects include "Sign of the Times," which collected thoughts and reflections from the neighborhood and broadcast them on signs mounted on a truck driving around the city, and "Write Sky," which solicited ideas from community members that became messages in the sky with the help of sky-writing pilots.
To launch projects like this -- including his current work on a
light and sound installation near the Viaduct -- he needed to get to know the neighborhood. Kyu began with a small survey of about fifteen people, hoping to learn what people’s perceptions of the area were. He recently shared the results with
Flying Kite. The themes raised in surveys conducted in late 2012 through early 2013 reflect dramatic neighborhood change.
One question he asked his subjects was a deceptively simple one: What do you call this neighborhood?
To some, it’s Chinatown North, but it’s also Callowhill and "North of Vine." Others call it "the Viaduct area" -- certainly a label that’s gaining traction now -- and others call it "Eraserhood" or the "Loft District."
Kyu says all of these names just represent different factions of people trying to preserve what they see as their piece of the neighborhood as development advances.
Back then, respondents noted that the area was becoming a haven for the "creative class" and other entrepreneurs. The addition of galleries, bars and restaurants -- from artists and
collectives at the 319 gallery building to nightlife startups like Brick and Mortar and
W/N W/N Coffee Bar, and services like
GoBeer -- have borne this out.
Kyu also asked subjects, "What is the best thing that could happen in this neighborhood in the next year?" Answers included a launch to the
first stage of the new Viaduct Park (on its way), and "some type of festival that is accessible for all." Last fall’s
Pearl Street Passage project offered a taste of this possibility.
The survey also noted that the area was "ripe for development" and changing extremely fast. Projects from the
Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation’s
Eastern Tower to new
high-end residential units on Spring Garden, speak to expanding live/work opportunities in the neighborhood.
Keep an eye out for our continued coverage of happenings in Callowhill as it searches for its 21st century identity. And come say hello in Strawberry Mansion, where we will begin our next On the Ground residency soon.
Writer: Alaina Mabaso
Source: Dave Kyu,
Mural Arts Project and Asian Arts Initiative
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