Tag: Tobacco Brown

Two groups are looking to transform a vacant South Memphis lot into an Afrofuturistic-themed community garden, and are asking for donations to do so.

Using the online fund-raising platform, ioby, the Center for Transforming Communities and the United Housing Inc. are hoping to raise a little over $8,000 to create the South Memphis Future and Funk Community Art Garden.

The project is planned for a vacant lot on McMilan Street in South Memphis’ Lauderdale subdivision. Designed by Tobacco Brown, a community art garden specialist, the garden “will honor 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.”

Organizers say one goal of the garden is to engage the community and encourage the activation of other vacant properties in the city. The garden will be 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 of the community,” the fund-raising page reads.

A community build day is scheduled for Saturday, October 5th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the site of the future garden. Volunteers will have the opportunity to work with Brown, the garden specialist, to plant flowers and build seating for the space.

Organizers are hoping to reach the fund-raising goal of $8,327 before Monday, October 7th ahead of the unveiling celebration on October 12th. The groups will host an activation celebration that day for the community to come and learn about the garden.

The celebration will feature writers Sheree Thomas and Troy Wiggins as speakers, an Ethiopian coffee ceremony, as well as poetry, dance and musical performances. The event will also provide information on fair housing in the city, programs that promote renter’s rights and home ownership, and the importance of home ownership in building wealth, equity, and stability for families.

Through its New Century of Soul Challenge, the city of Memphis has promised to match donations for this project up to $10,000. To donate go here.

ioby

Future site of the Uptown Community Food Forest

• A few miles north of the South Memphis garden site, another group is looking to transform an existing Uptown community garden into a food forest, a garden that mimics forest growth with edible plants. This strategy for growing food leads to better light exposure, simpler maintenance, and an overall better, more bio-diverse yield.

Unlike most community gardens, organizers say the Uptown Community Food Forest will utilize nearly all of the land where it sits to maximize the amount and variety of crops. The project’s organizers say the food forest will provide the community with access to naturally grown food, including seasonal and native produce that they might not otherwise have access to.