Now Underway: Common Ground for Project H.O.M.E.
July 2008

The Fairmount Park Art Association is currently working with anti-homelessness organization Project H.O.M.E. to create Common Ground – a new permanent public artwork for the St. Elizabeth’s/Diamond Street neighborhood in North Central Philadelphia. Developed through the Fairmount Park Art Association’s New•Land•Marks program, Common Ground (formerly titled Dwelling Place/Church Lot) will provide a new spiritual center for the community.
 
In 1995, St. Elizabeth’s Church, a much beloved community landmark at 23rd and Berks Streets in North Philadelphia, was tragically destroyed by fire. Residents have expressed their desire to fill the social and cultural void left in the neighborhood by this loss. In response, Common Ground was conceived by three noted local African-American artists: Lonnie Graham, an internationally-exhibited photographer; sculptor and designer John Stone; and Lorene Cary, the award-winning author of The Price of Child. Local residents, as well as Project H.O.M.E., have been active in planning Common Ground.
 
Common Ground calls for indoor and outdoor elements that will provide a place for the community to meet, share, and celebrate. A symbolic gazebo-like Sanctuary structure, rising on the footprint where the altar of St. Elizabeth’s once stood, will serve as a neighborhood gathering place for outdoor ceremonies, and a Common Room in the church’s former rectory will house a Community Archive of the neighborhood. This archive will include oral histories, photographs, and video portraits of neighborhood elders and youth, as well as photographs and ephemera from important community events. Work on the indoor Common Room and Community Archive is currently underway, and construction on the outdoor Sanctuary is expected to begin in summer 2008.
 
Major support for Common Ground has come from the William Penn Foundation. Additional support has been received from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Lindback Foundation, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Barra Foundation, the Federated Department Stores Foundation, the Connelly Foundation, The Honickman Foundation, The Dietrich Foundation, the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, the Union Benevolent Association, and an anonymous donor.

To download a one-page information sheet about Common Ground, click here.