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.”

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