Pensacola’s Downtown Improvement Board is inviting the local community to submit a design to turn a parking space into a mini, temporary “parklet” to celebrate International PARK(ing) Day. The #ParkPensacola event takes place during Gallery Night on Sept. 21 and the deadline to submit applications and parklet concepts is Aug. 30, 2018.

International PARK(ing) Day is an annual event that was created in 2005 by art and design studio, Rebar as a way to encourage community members, students and designers to take metered parking spaces and liven up city streets. Motivated by the desire to activate the metered parking space as a site for creative experimentation and cultural expression, PARK(ing) Day offers a fun opportunity for members of the community to create temporary installations, with a mission to encourage people to imagine the positive impacts of green spaces in urban areas. On Gallery Night, guests will be able to enjoy the 10 parklets and cast a vote for their favorite.

“We are very excited to celebrate International PARK(ing) Day during the upcoming Gallery Night event and challenge our local community to reinterpret our typical parking spots into creative spaces,” remarked DIB Interim Executive Director, Lisa Dees, “Whether you want to create a giant chessboard, install an interactive sculpture or host a croquet tournament, our aim is to have some fun with these spaces and rethink our relationship with parking.”

The call for submissions is FREE open to all and can contain sketches or a brief description of the idea for transforming the parking space into a parklet. The competition is limited to 10 designs and qualifying design teams will be notified once selected. While branding is permitted, parklets are intended for non-commercial use only.

Email submissions to: DIB@downtownpensacola.com 
#ParkPensacola