Residents in a university-area neighborhood are spending their free time creating homemade tiles to beautify park benches.
The Rincon Heights Neighborhood Association has made several improvements in the last couple of years, including curb bump-outs filled with native plants and a new pocket park.
Feld Davis Park, on East Eighth Street west of Campbell Avenue, was built with help from the Watershed Management Group.
After all that work, "it needed something that said it was us," said Tom Palliser, part of the neighborhood's leadership team.
That's how they came up with the idea for the art project and won a $5,000 PRO Neighborhoods grant.
"The idea was that people would learn a skill as well as contribute to this project," said Chris Wilke, a project team member.
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Their instructor is Melody Peters, an artist who has lived in the neighborhood for about 30 years.
Tile "has a lot of possibilities" in pattern, color and texture, she said.
On Thursday, she showed a group how to use drafting tools to create paper designs with flower and leaf motifs.
The crafters used carving tools to transfer their design ideas to clay blocks.
"I just like the challenge of getting what I see come out of the clay," said Nancy Thomas.
The carving is used to make a mold that allows the crafters to make multiple tiles in each design.
It all happened on a weeknight in a vacant apartment in Stacey Plassmann's small complex.
"There's definitely a cool factor, a fun factor, having one of the apartments be an art studio," she said.
It's been great to meet new people, too, whether planting flowers or making art together, Palliser said.
"We really just want this neighborhood to thrive," he said. "And it is."
Contact reporter Becky Pallack at bpallack@azstarnet.com or 807-8012.
