Author Archives: cphipps

Segment with Radcliffe Bailey and Adron McCann with WABE-90.1FM Atlanta’s hub for culture, news and conversation

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Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey explores themes of ancestry, race and collective memory in new commissions with Adron McCann with Atlanta's WABE -90.1FM. Radcliffe Bailey has two commissions underway--one at the Cascade Springs Nature Preserve in Atlanta and the other on the Downtown Greenway. Click here to listen to the interview. Radcliffe and his team have submitted design plans to the TRC Review Committee and anticipate installation of the Freedom Cornerstone later this spring at the corner of Gate City Blvd and Murrow Blvd.

Final Mile Campaign Kick-Off & Glow on the Greenway Event

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We are kicking off the Final Mile Campaign in September! Join us for our Glow on the Greenway kick-off event on September 8 from 7-8:30pm; click here for more info. You can be part of helping us complete the 'final mile' of the Downtown Greenway as we get ready to start construction on the western side along the railroad corridor.  There are a number of naming opportunities available at various levels. Click here for more info and here to make a donation on-line.

Summer Pop-Up Fitness Classes with the YMCA of Greensboro

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Join us for FREE fitness classes on the Downtown Greenway!  Classes located at LoFi Park (500 N. Eugene St) and Historic Magnolia House (442 Gorrell Street). Want to order a Shoe Box Meal from The Historic Magnolia House for dinner to take home after class on July 28?  Click here for the menu. To place an order, please email info@magnoliahousegso.org or order when you arrive to class at 5:45pm.  Shoe Box Meals will be ready for pick-up at the end of class.      

Opening Celebration of Cairn’s Course at Westwoods

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May 22 marked the official opening of Thomas Sayre's piece called Cairn's Course at WestWoods along the railroad corridor on the western side of the Downtown Greenway. We also celebrated the soon to start construction of the final 1 mile of the 4 mile loop of the Downtown Greenway that will start later this year.  If you were unable to attend, click here to watch the Facebook Live event. Read recent article about the project by Dawn Kane in the News & Record.  

Artist Radcliffe Bailey shares plans for Freedom Cornerstone

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Artist Radcliffe Bailey who was selected to design and fabricate the Freedom Cornerstone shares plans for the last of four cornerstones located on the Downtown Greenway. Click here to read recent article in the News & Record. Click here to watch Action Greensboro's The More You Know GSO Facebook Live event with Radcliffe Bailey and learn about his vision and plans for the cornerstone. We anticipate construction to begin on the cornerstone this summer.    

Downtown Greenway receives $15,000 grant to complete the final mile

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Project is one of eleven in the country to awardees of the highly competitive Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s 2021 Trail Grants Program totaling $145,000.  The Downtown Greenway received a $15,000 grant from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy 2021 Trail Grants Program. The RTC Trail Grants program awarded $145,000 in total to fill critical trail gaps, with an emphasis on regional and community development goals. Among the awards included $60,000 in Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund Grants to bring forward the vision for the cross-country Great American Rail-Trail™, a developing 3,700-mile trail that connects across 12 states between Washington, D.C., and Washington State. The 2021 Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund Grants winners will contribute to the development and maintenance of the gaps along the Great American Rail-Trail. Recipients include the following: Cedar Trails Partnership (Iowa), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to help rehabilitate a 1.5-mile section of trail closed due to flood damage Yellowstone Historic Center (Montana), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant for the conversion of a 9-mile abandonment along the Yellowstone Shortline Trail into a multi-use path from the Montana–Idaho border Headwaters Trail System (Montana), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to support the development of the 0.8 mile remaining to complete a 12-mile network in Gallatin County to connect the Headwaters Trail, as part of the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail Northwest Nebraska Trails Association (Nebraska), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant for the Cowboy Trail Connection’s development of engineering documents for construction of the first miles of Cowboy Trail Connection into Chadron in Dawes County Rails-to-Trails of Wayne County (Ohio), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to complete a 1.6-mile gap between two sections of the Heartland Trail Peninsula Trails Coalition (Washington), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant to support a consultant for the Olympic Discovery Trail, as part of the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail in Jefferson and Clallam counties. The 2021 Trail Grants Program recipient list emphasizes investments in projects with the potential to strengthen or connect trails in five communities nationwide. The recipients include: Downtown Greenway (North Carolina), receiving a $15,000 RTC Trail Grant to support the completion of a final 1-mile rail-trail section Friends of the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor (New Hampshire), receiving a $10,000 RTC Trail Grant to construct a trail segment, trailhead and amenities New Jersey Rail-Trail Projects, receiving $60,000 in RTC Trail Grants, including $20,000 to the New Jersey Bike-Walk Coalition to advance community engagement for the Essex-Hudson Greenway trail and $10,000 to the Embankment Preservation Coalition to advance the proposed 1-mile trail along the Harsimus Stem Embankment “The RTC Trail Grants Program offers support to projects that are often not funded otherwise and are left out of traditional funding streams. These grants often fill critical gaps—both in trail development and funding—delivering returns on investment that bring lasting benefit to communities,” said Ryan Chao, president of RTC.

Little Free Libraries installed on the Downtown Greenway

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Three Little Free Libraries have been installed on the Downtown Greenway. Porter Halyburton designed and fabricated three libraries and Darlene McClinton painted each. You can find the libraries at Woven Works Park (Lindsay & Murrow), Meeting Place at Tradition Cornerstone (Smith & Prescott) and on Bragg St. at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (see map). Stop by and take a book or give a book. Do you have books to donate?  Contact Laura Lorenz at llorenz@actiongreensboro.org About Porter: A few good things have come out of Covid-19, among them Porter Halyburton’s recently refined woodworking skills and the construction of three Little Free Libraries for the Downtown Greenway. Porter, father of Dabney Sanders, Downtown Greenway Project Coordinator, recently moved to Well-Spring Retirement Community and was anxious to try out the equipment in Well-Spring’s new state-of-the-art woodworking shop.   The Little Free Libraries were a perfect opportunity to hone his skills and do something to enhance the Greenway and nearby neighborhoods. Since constructing the Little Free Libraries, Porter has designed and made a number of lidded boxes and cutting boards out of exotic woods as gifts for family and friends.   Before his newly found passion for woodworking, Porter spent several days a week at Art Alliance pottery studio in the Greensboro Cultural Arts Center.   His pottery is available in the shop at GreenHill. About Darlene: Local artist Darlene McClinton was selected to create the design and re-paint the bridge supports at Morehead Park on the Downtown Greenway at 475 Spring Garden Street.  Darlene formed a team of local artists that helped her add new life to the bridge supports and named the project Bridging the Gap. The project was completed in December 2020.  Darlene graduated from Grimsley High School and attended NC A&T, studying visual arts and design.  She is a Visual Arts Professor at NCA&T University.  In 2014, she and two partners opened the Artist Bloc, an art supply and coffee shop that provided event space and educational opportunities. Today the business is focused on being an art venue, with a little encouragement from Launch Greensboro, by participating in the Triad Startup Lab. They want to turn it into a chain. This August will be the 3rd annual Bloc Awards present by the Artist Bloc. This event was created to honor, recognize and celebrate the outstanding Triad Artists in the arts entertainment, fashion, cosmetic, culinary industry and to highlight non-traditional artist. “The Artist Bloc is a home for artists. We see about 300 artists per week,” Darlene says. She’s also currently serving as Grants Manager for ArtGreensboro and serving on the Downtown Greenway’s Public Art committee. Later this year, one of her paintings – a self portrait called “I am” – will hang at the new Steven Tanger Center for Performing Arts. “I’m so happy about the direction Greensboro is growing,” she says. “My goal for Greensboro in terms of the arts is for it to continue to be more inclusive. We really need to be sharing the wealth at little bit more than it’s been being shared. It needs to continue to try to create equal opportunities for all cultures, even beyond African American.”