Made Possible by PNM Resources Foundation's Power Up Grant for $50,000
The “Love Transfer Station” parklet was unveiled today in a ceremony attended by PNM staff, community leaders, artist and local sculptor Don Kennell, landscape architect Christie Green, students from YouthWorks and local area business owners. PNM Resources Foundation awarded $50,000 to the MIX Santa Fe and the Re:MIKE Project through their Foundation's Power Up Grant for mobile three parklets to help increase the walkability factor in the St. Michaels Drive area of the city. The PNM Power up Grants were designed to allow communities to create projects meaningful for their area. The goal is to make the area a more meaningful place for pedestrians and local business owners to comingle and help the region at the heart of the city become a vibrant, thriving space.
“We’re thrilled to see the first of three mobile parklets come to life thanks to our new Power Up Grant Program,” said Sayuri Yamada, PNM Resources Foundation Board Trustee. “Power Up Grants in the aggregate amount of $500,000 were awarded to 24 nonprofits in our service area. It’s just one of the ways PNM supports local communities.”
The “Love Transfer Station” parklet was designed and constructed by local sculptor Don Kennell and landscape architect Christie Green. Three apprentices from YouthWorks assisted with the project and plants were discounted or donated from Plants of the Southwest. The park is built from a recycled roll off construction dumpster and can be easily relocated by an appropriate truck as needs change in the area.
“As the city begins in earnest to undertake the difficult work of adjusting land use codes and street design to promote revitalization of St. Michael’s Drive, it’s essential that we continue to invest in projects like the “Love Transfer Station” that directly benefit area residents and users of the corridor,” Daniel Werwath of MIX Santa Fe and the Re:MIKE Project.
The “Love Transfer Station” parklet was built from an old dumpster. It was designed by artist and sculptor Don Kennell who worked with three YouthWorks’ student apprentices that completely sanded the dumpster down before they could begin creating the parklet, which has built-in medal seating, planters and is decorated with red hearts and arrows.
“It started with the bare essentials and then it got down to, love,” said Don Kennell, Artist/Sculptor. “It began with an idea that could bring the most people together in some form of agreement or participation in the project, something inviting- it was either that or green chili.”
The parklet has a large red heart shaped water cistern that can collect rain water and also be filled with water to irrigate the plants. All the plants were carefully selected by landscape architect, Christie Green. Each plant is symbolic to the love theme of the parklet; plantings include: roses, strawberries, bleeding hearts, switch grass and more.
“We wanted to do something that was visually compelling right away that told a story without having to have an interpretation,” said Christie Green, landscape architect who worked with Don Kennell on the project. “So people could say this is something that’s beautiful and a place that we can actually be, enjoy and share. Loving, kindness compassion, however you want to interpret love, but something beyond, just a park with benches and plants.”
Marc Lury, a YouthWorks student apprentice who worked on the project had this to say, “Working on the project was extremely fun and I learned a lot of new things. Don taught me how to weld and I picked it up really fast,” said Marc Lury, YouthWorks student. “Spending hours sweating and grinding on this project, it’s hard work and I’m not going to sugarcoat it… to see it transform from that brown rusty dumpster to this is really amazing.”
