Kenmore residents seeking to enjoy the summer weather at Prentiss Park will be greeted by an art installation unveiled today beside the parking lot at 2043 East Ave. Hollow letters made of metal mesh and rebar are filled with collected garbage that spell out the word “THINK.”
It’s an effort to make visitors do just that — twice — before they litter.
The artwork is the first of its kind in Northeast Ohio, made possible by local nonprofit Keep Akron Beautiful and the City of Akron. It’s part of the Litter Letter Project, a nationwide initiative to raise awareness of the consequences of littering and discourage the act.
A ‘cleaner, greener and more beautiful Akron’
The artwork was unveiled in a ceremony that included Akron Mayor Shammas Malik, Akron Police Department Chief Deputy Dave Laughlin, Ward 9 Council Member Tina Boyes and Keep Akron Beautiful Executive Director Jacqui Ricchiuti.
Each took the podium to laud the art and artist, Louisiana native Rachel Hatley, who could not attend the unveiling.
“As KAB celebrates our 45th anniversary this year, we’ve spent a great deal of time reflecting on what it means to create a cleaner, greener and more beautiful Akron,” Ricchiuti said. “But one challenge continues to stand out above the others, and that is litter.”
Responsibility to keep Akron neighborhoods beautiful is “on all of us,” Malik said. As he spoke, a Rumpke garbage truck drove by the lot. “The more of that work we do here, the less that Rumpke has to drive around and interrupt our press conferences.”
Laughlin, who has also been a member of the KAB board for six years, said that community beautification and public safety go hand in hand.
“Oftentimes we respond after things have happened; we’re reactive, but this is an opportunity for us to be proactive,” he said. “We’re creating neighborhoods that are cleaner, more beautiful places where people want to gather and spend time together.”
Boyes lauded the installation as an homage to Kenmore’s rich artistry and highlighted an ongoing project to build a skate park beside the park’s basketball court. Construction was taking place as she spoke.
Boyes thanked Akron Public Schools teacher Kyla McPhilliamy and her students as she brought them to the podium. The litter collected and transformed into the artwork was cleaned up by the students, including 16 year-old Khyre’Anna Louie, along with classmates Jayd Foxworth and Stephawn Muhammad.
“The first thing they said to me was, ‘How can we be proud of [Akron] when everything is trashed?’” McPhilliamy said. “So I said, ‘OK, what can we do with that?’ And this was a student-led effort; it was totally their idea and their passion.”
The sculpture was commissioned by Kim Haws Falasco, KAB’s board chair. She said she is “ecstatic” with how the installation turned out.
She explained that the installation is set up as a $2,500 per-year renewable sponsorship to replace the trash inside the installation and maintain the letters’ framework.
“Our goal is to have at least one in every ward across the city with different words that make you ‘THINK’ about litter, about community and about engagement,” Haws Falasco said.
The installation is the first of three confirmed for Akron, Ricchiuti said, with the locations of the next two to be revealed in the coming weeks.
