RECOMMENDATION // Invincible Camden
by Doris Zheku • photos by Ken Hohing
EXCERPT //
More than two years in the making, six vacant lots that were used for illegal dumping have been turned into dramatic public art spaces in Camden, Philly’s neighbor city right across the Delaware River. In 2019, Camden was awarded a $1 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies after being chosen as one of five winners in Bloomberg’s Public Art Challenge, applied to by more than 200 cities. It was chosen due to the location of the lots having visibility from the PATCO Speedline, which more than 65,000 commuters were using daily at the time. Illegally dumped trash was costing the city (and the taxpayers) over $4 million annually to clean up.
The six art works, consisting of reclaimed wood, repurposed car hoods, and styrofoam-eating mealworms—just to name a few—were set to be unveiled last year before being postponed due to the pandemic. They were finally unveiled on Earth Day 2021.
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