PHOTO COURTESY CARPENTER ART GARDEN
Children pose on a lot that would eventually become a part of the Carpenter Art Garden.
In 2012 Erin Harris bought a house on Carpenter Street in the Binghampton community with the goal of creating an outdoor art project.
“When I started the Art Garden in 2012, I was hoping to use my experience as an elementary school art teacher to create an outdoor art classroom,” she says. “At the time Carpenter Street was a tough area. Most of the properties were empty and a heavy amount of crime happening. Carpenter was the main street that children had to use to get to school. When the school in the neighborhood cut art from their curriculum, I knew that it made sense for the garden to happen right there.”
Though it began as a way to foster the arts and creativity, Carpenter Art Garden (CAG) has grown to meet the needs of the neighborhood.
“It’s hard to understand unless you are there, and you can see it,” says Harris. “We’re called the Art Garden but there’s so much more than art that goes on here. We have programs that occur regularly and a set schedule, but a lot of times people in the community will ask us if we can assist them with an idea that they had been working on,” says executive director Megan Banaszek. “Our job is providing a space for ideas to manifest.”
Today, Carpenter Art Garden owns three houses in the neighborhood, a mosaic garden designed and constructed by members of the neighborhood, and three vegetable gardens run by students. CAG offers small art classes led by local artists, a sewing program, a mural training program, a mosaic works group that updates their mosaic garden with former Binghamton residents, educational support, and even a bike shop that provides repairs and leads rides through the neighborhood twice a week. Food grown on the three community farms is sold back to the community and to local restaurants throughout Memphis.
PHOTO COURTESY CARPENTER ART GARDEN
The Carpenter Art Garden uses pop-up stands sell art and vegetables weekly. 70% of the proceeds are given back to the kids.
“Our work is very relational and involves a lot of sitting down and talking to people in the neighborhood and working with them to see what they need,” says Banaszek. “A lot of our staff are lifelong residents of Binghamton and we have a core volunteer base that have been forming relationships with staff and children for years. Being a constant in children’s lives is so important and the volunteers and staff understand that. The kids of people who came here eight years ago come here today.”
Despite the growth, CAG never forgot its roots and retained the art group that started the program. The group meets every Tuesday year-round.
“It is a special time and that group is the heart of the garden,” says Harris. “Kids who might not live in the neighborhood any longer know it happens, so they can always be sure they can come and participate and see old friends.”
While COVID-19 has caused many of the programs to be put on hold, the Art Garden has continued to support the neighborhood through take-home art and science projects as well as online art shows, where students’ art is displayed and sold. The community gardens are also still selling food Mondays and Thursdays from 3 to 5 p.m.
To learn more about Carpenter Art Garden, visit their website.
