PARK(ing) DAY

“PARK(ing) Day is an international event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks or parklets.

The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of public space in communities around the world.” --Nashville Civic Design Studio

The Workshop has participated since 2014.

PARK(ing) DAY 2018

The Workshop’s parklet celebrates two iconic aspects of Nashville - the arrival of the Major League Soccer Team and all the billiards played in downtown Nashville.

The Gamer uses the soccer balls, colored and numbered as a full billiards set, to play a game of billiards.

Carpet tiles were a recycled donation from Patcraft sporting the Nashville MLS team’s colors.

The board is a modular design in three equal sections.

The Workshop is donating the board to an exciting cause to be announced once all plans are finalize.

The Workshop won a Golden Cone Award for GOLDEN GAMER.

-click image above to take in the day

PARK(ing) DAY 2017

The Workshop’s parklet focused on creating a dog park to raise awareness regarding animal rescues and to bring some puppy/doggy love to downtown Nashville.

The Workshop collaborated with Proverbs 12:10 No Kill Animal Rescue to create a dog park complete with two chic dog pads.

Dog pads, aka debonair dog houses, were later put on auction to raise money for the Rescue.

The dog pads were designed and constructed by the hands of The Workshop.

The Workshop won a Golden Cone Award for GOLDEN BONE.

-click image above to take in the day

PARK(ing) DAY 2016

The Workshop’s parklet created a place where people could “park” it and take in all that downtown Nashville has to offer.

The benches were made out of 4x4x8 boards, and spelled “PARK”.

The art behind the benches was created during last year’s Parking Day project, where people used stamps to express what Nashville meant to them (home, music, boots, hot chicken, etc.).

The carpet tiles used as ground cover was donated by Interface and are 100% recyclable.

The flowers will have a second life in an employee garden.

The Workshop created a space with color, plants, and invite people to “park”, have a conversation, and enjoy a bit of Nashville.

-click image above to take in the day

PARK(ing) DAY 2015

The Workshop’s parklet responds to what we heard from the PARK(ing) DAY 2014 question “What is Nashville”. We took those collective answers of Music, Boots, Food, Home and asked participants to Paint The Town.

The Workshop created stamps representing these four spirits of Nashville and gave downtown participants the skyline to plant their stamp as a personal reflection of how they view our City of Nashville.

Using automotive film to cover the negative space on the board, the skyline was able to emerge after the Town has been painted.

The Workshop won a Golden Cone Award for MOST CREATIVE.

-click image above to take in the day

PARK(ing) DAY 2014

The Workshop’s parklet wanted to provide a creative space that involved the people of Nashville and allowed them to express how they viewed the city. We wanted to find out “what is Nashville?” or, more specifically, “what is Nashville to you?” What images, words, or feelings did this great city invoke in the people?

Nashville is an amazing place. It is a city that is growing at an astonishing rate both physically and culturally. But the city isn’t doing this on its own – it is the wonderful people that live, work, and play here who are facilitating this change. So, we provided a space to express those voices.

Throughout the day, we invited and encouraged participants to document “how they see Nashville” by decorating small cards and pinning them to our orange display boards.

We received some very creative responses varying from one word phrases to song lyrics to drawings and quotes. During the day, over 400 people helped us to creative our interactive art.

We met so many wonderful people from all over the world, and received so many positive responses, but the best part of this experience was the feeling of optimism that tied all these people together. Despite any difference, this city has an uncanny ability to bring people together and there is no doubt that these people could feel it.

The Workshop won a Golden Cone Award for MOST ENGAGED.

-click image above to take in the day