Thursday night's opening for the New Neighbors exhibit was amazing!
"New Neighbors" is a community outreach and arts initiative by artist Dave Alsobrooks, who has installed paintings of Durham residents performing everyday activities in the windows of vacant properties, including the (under contract!) Y.E. Smith School and surrounding houses. Alsobrooks encourages viewers to picture themselves living in the neighborhood and providing a catalyst for a renaissance of the neighborhood.
There was a huge turnout and folks stayed way past dark and viewed the installation with flashlights. There were a couple of food trucks, so people stayed and ate in front of the school and talked. Residents from Uplift East Durham took people in groups to each installation house, as well as the Paul Ligon House.
I stayed in front of the YE Smith School to talk to folks about our project and hand out fliers on Project RED. There were also plenty of nearby neighbors who came out just to see what was going on and we were able to meet people we hadn't reached before. It was an amazing day — people are really rooting for this neighborhood!
