Page 16 - Wilmington - It's Time

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
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vacant spaces in the district.
The first space completed was The
Rock Lot. In its third season, the space is known for its free community programs that include Tuesday evening Drumming Circle, jazz nights and open mic nights. Collaborating in what has become not only an opportunity for community residents to participate, but also showcase local talent, has once again proven that partnerships matter. The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew and Market Street Music are integral to this successful programming.
This year, we have added a new partner—The Common Market, who will offer seasonal shares of fresh produce and more for bi-weekly pick-up at The Rock Lot.
The Creative District’s partnerships with artists extend to youth artists, who along with FourYouth Productions, created the murals that transformed Catawba Street alleyway into a portrait gallery of neighbors, celebrating city residents and highlighting our families. This project, titled “West Center City: A Family Portrait,” was installed on
Catawba Street, which connects The Rock Lot to 7th and West Streets Park.
GREEN IS GOOD
Exploring another opportunity for transformation, WRC purchased what is currently a blighted nine-parcel lot, and with the support of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, began a joint project to remediate and transform
the space. The 17,000-square-foot greenspace is expected to be completed by November 2019. Planned for the space is a centerpiece, multipurpose lawn area, bordered by flowerbeds and shaded by trees that will allow for additional programming and larger neighborhood events.
For local residents with green thumbs, 7th & West Streets Park will also feature a raised-bed, community vegetable garden. These plots, which were specifically requested by the community, will be available for the 2020 growing season. In addition
to growing some of their own food, members of the community get a chance to meet and engage with
one another.
MARKETING MARKET
Why do people come to Market? They come to share ideas and learn new things. They come to buy and sell—and practice their trades. They come to live here and walk everywhere. Markets are where people meet and come together on common ground. About three years ago, NewMarketWilm, a campaign powered by WRC, started to tell the stories of Market—the stories that weren’t making headlines. Residents and restaurateurs, shop owners and artists, familiar faces and old friends, shared their story about what brought them to Market, and about the new Market they wanted to help create.
These were not just individual stories. These stories were what the people of Market already knew—that everything on Market was interconnected, and that each individual story added a chapter to a single, cohesive narrative about a community starting to rediscover itself.
In the heart of these anecdotes were success stories of businesses that were launched on Market and continue to grow beyond it. One such Market Street
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W16 | www.todaymediainc.com | JUNE 2019
Out from the cloak of darkness emerges a fantastical universe of images.