Lex Street Garden Stewardship Project
- Dyan Castro (Project Manager, Penn Praxis) and Dante Leonard (Executive Director, Smart Futures CDC)
- PennPraxis, Weitzman School of Design
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Community Partnerships Grant
On May 4, 2023, Penn students, faculty, staff, and West Philadelphia community members gathered to celebrate the opening of Lex Street Garden and commemorate it as the gateway to the New Freedom District. Photo by Eric Sucar.
The Lex Street Garden Stewardship Project is a collaboration between Dyan Castro from Penn Praxis, Dante Leonard of Smart Futures CDC, and local community organizers. The project seeks to enhance a vital community asset at the heart of West Philadelphia’s New Freedom District by integrating a public art installation and a semi-permanent irrigation system.
Through design workshops and community build days, the project will engage residents, youth, and local organizations, fostering a renewed sense of ownership and stewardship. This initiative aims to empower the community by celebrating the New Freedom District’s rich history as a key site of the Underground Railroad and a center of Black cultural heritage and strengthen the garden’s identity as a cultural and ecological anchor for the surrounding neighborhoods.