Students at Ramapo High School’s SAC, Environmental and Haitian Clubs gathered recently to create a woven tapestry that will be displayed at Finkelstein Memorial Library and other public spaces in Spring Valley and Rockland County.
The project, A Vision for Our Future, invites residents to help shape public spaces through participatory textile art. Each student created a small woven square that will become part of a larger, multicolored tapestry reflecting community priorities. The students were making panels for a tapestry about the rehabilitation of Spring Valley Memorial Park.
The session was led by Daphnee Momperousse, advisor for the Haitian and Environmental Clubs; Sleepy Hollow-based artist Kersten Harries; and Joanne Louis-Paul, founder of Spring Valley Placemakers and Ramapo alumna.
Read more about Spring Valley Placemakers: Can Spring Valley Memorial Park lift up a struggling Rockland village?
“I grew up going to Spring Valley Memorial Park” said Louis-Paul. “I went to summer camp across the street at Salvation Army, and a couple of times a week we would walk down and we would use the park. We would use the pool at the park. So it was really a beautiful place.”
Now, Louis-Paul and the Spring Valley Placemakers are working to revitalize the park. “We want to make it cleaner, more beautiful, safer, and have the things that you want so that it’s fun and so that you actually use it and that it’s a place where you can gather with your friends and your family and make memories and all that good stuff.”
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This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Ramapo High School students join Spring Valley Placemakers project
Reporting by Peter Carr, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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