South Memphis Future & Funk Community Garden

South Memphis Future & Funk Community Art Garden Installation and Celebration

A Community Garden Installation and Celebration that Reimagines Fair & Equitable Housing in Memphis

1) Community Build Event: Neighbors and volunteers will work with community art garden specialist, tobacco brown, to build seating and help with planting flowers/plants for the community garden

Saturday, October 5, 2019

9am-2 pm

1544 McMillan Street (South Memphis)

2) Community Art Garden Celebration/Activation: A celebration and unveiling and activation of the community art garden.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

12 pm-4 pm

1544 McMillan Street (South Memphis)

The South Memphis community has a long history of demonstrating the importance of community, music, and the idea of "home".  As the home of the legendary Stax record label and the birthplace of famed Afrofuturistic funk-crooner, Maurice White, South Memphis is proof that "funk and future" have always been a beacon of its beauty and a sustaining source of its pride.

The South Memphis Future & Funk Community Art Garden will be a local, multi-generational garden project that will allow neighbors from the Lauderdale Subdivision in South Memphis and neighboring areas an opportunity to have a beautiful seating and meditation area on one of the vacant lots on McMillan Street.  Designed by community art garden specialist, Tobacco Brown, the garden will honor the past/current ideas of the meaning of "home" in South Memphis and will reimagine what the future of South Memphis as home will mean using art, photographs and nature. 

To celebrate the unveiling of the community art garden, we will host a community celebration and garden activation event that will feature:  Afrofuturist/Famed Author- Sheree R. Thomas;Ted Talk/Environmental Art Specialist-tobacco brown; Afrofuturistic Writer-Troy Wiggins; Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony Tradition Bearer-Queen Titile Keskessa; and many other poets, musicians, drummers, and dancers.  Kids activities will be provided by Neighborhood Heroes of Memphis, an organization that uses a comic book model to mentor children and engage them with cultural touchstones that are familiar and exciting.

Goal/What We Want to Accomplish:  Center for Transforming Communities and United Housing Inc. realize the importance of utilizing arts, culture, and natural community assets to highlight resources and information about topics ranging from affordable housing to workforce development to transportation and beyond.  We also realize the importance of being informed by the community about assets, aspirations, and concerns as it relates to these topics and arts and cultural activities often facilitates the transmission of this type of communication in a fun and barrier-free way.  The South Memphis Future & Funk Community Art Garden was conceived as a fun, family-friendly way to engage the community to activate a vacant property and provide information about vacant land in Memphis and its importance when discussing fair and equitable housing in Memphis.  The garden is a gateway to begin the discussion about creative ways to activate vacant lots and land while celebrating the culture of South Memphis and the future visions of the community. 

In addition to the creation of the garden, we will host a Community Art Garden Celebration/Activation event for neighbors of all ages to have fun learn more about the garden and also gather information about fair housing within the City and programs that promote renters rights and homeownership and the importance of homeownership in building equity, wealth, and stability for families. 

This Project Is Important Because:  This project is important because South Memphis residents and community members of all ages will have a new community garden on a vacant property that will provide a relaxing space for events, gatherings, relaxation, and may other community activities for many years to come.  The accompanying garden celebration will provide a chance to explore the present/future idea of "home" in South Memphis and have a family-friendly event that showcases the garden to the community.

The Steps

Week of 9/30  Our team will pay a deposit for the supplies to begin building the community garden

                       Our team will make a final payment for marketing flyers/design

                       Our team will pay for the Neighborhood Heroes team for supplies/Supplies for Interactive Community Vision Board

                       We will organize a Community Garden Build/Volunteer Day to help tobacco brown (Garden artist) finalize the community garden.

Week of 10/7   Our team will pay for the Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony supplies/Our team will pay the final deposit for the completion of the Community Garden

Day of 10/12  Our team will pay the Bouncy House contractor; Music/poetry artist fees

We are creating the South Memphis Future & Funk Community Art Garden Installation and Celebration to provide a beautiful, permanent garden space to the residents of the Lauderdale Subdivision in South Memphis.  The art garden and community garden celebration will engage residents of all ages with a new, fun space for activities.  Our garden celebration will provide information about creative ways to reimagine vacant spaces in South Memphis and also offer information on fair and equitable housing in Memphis that helps to combat inequalities within Memphis, especially as it relates to housing and vacant land.