For a second year, Pensacola’s Downtown Improvement Board is partnering with Gallery Night and inviting the local community to submit designs to turn parking spaces into temporary “parklets” to celebrate International PARK(ing) Day. The event takes place during the “Pigskin and Paint Tailgate” themed Gallery Night on Sept. 20 and the deadline to submit applications with a parklet concept is Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. 

International PARK(ing) Day is an annual event, 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.

“We are excited bring International PARK(ing) Day back 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.”

On Gallery Night, guests will be able to enjoy the 10 parklets and cast a vote for their favorite. The call for submissions is FREE and 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: courtneyr@downtownpensacola.com