ARTfarm Needs Help Making City a Little More Green

ARTfarm is giving new life to a run-down set of steps in the Bronx, turning it into a beautiful edible garden with an artistic bent. Using supplies from the Rebuilders Source (a discount retailer of used and surplus building materials), Architecture For Humanity New York is repurposing a formerly abandoned space into something that's not only beautiful to look at, but also something that the community can interact with and use.

Of course, such an ambitious program doesn't come cheap. That's where Kickstarter comes in. The site allows people to donate online to worthy projects. If enough money comes in to reach the project's stated goal, the project gets to keep the money. If the goal isn't reached, the project doesn't get anything. Right now ARTfarm has collected $1,350 of its very modest $2,500 goal. It has seven days to reach that goal; if you want to help, you can donate here.

Located near the Bronx Museum, ARTfarm will be an oasis of green in a neighborhood with very little of it. A farm/art installation might not seem like the most vital of projects, but if we are serious about sustainability, we have to support ideas like this. Dense, urban cities are the most efficient ways to live. If we want people to live in cities, we need to make cities livable, not to mention utilize any precious unused spaces.

According to its website, Architecture for Humanity's is "a nonprofit design services firm founded in 1999" that aims to build " a more sustainable future through the power of professional design." It's an encouraging move that the New York Department of Transportation chose them in an UrbanArts competition, or that the UrbanArts program exists at all. AHNY is doing a great service to New York City and to the cause of urban sustainability in general.

Not only are they creating a green space in a sea of concrete, they are using reclaimed materials (fruit crates, dresser drawers, etc.) as planters and creating a source of local vegetables for an area that lacks lots of places to buy fresh produce. The planters were even painted by kids in the community, making sure the ARTfarm's neighbors feel involved in the project.

Sure, ARTfarm might not be in your immediate neighborhood. But supporting projects like this means that someday something like it will, and we'll be all the better for it.