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Artists spruce up trash cans at Lafayette Park at 1st Annual ‘Paint the Park’ event

Posted at 1:26 PM, May 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-03 17:24:02-04

NORFOLK, Va – Tackling litter one paintbrush stroke at a time: That was the goal of the 1st Annual Paint the Park event hosted Friday by Keep Norfolk Beautiful.

Artists paint trash cans at Lafayette Park to help tackle litter problem

“Lafayette Park is almost 40 acres and it’s used by everyone in the city, and it’s also the entrance to the zoo, so this beautification event is very important,” said Fleta Jackson, project coordinator with the organization.

Fifteen local artists armed with paint cans in hand designed catchy slogans on their “canvas of sorts” to encourage a higher visibility of what normally are just plain brown trash receptacles. It’s part of a pilot project to test whether artwork will catch park patrons’ eyes.

“We have noticed that when events happen here, there is an accumulation of trash. Our trash cans are not inviting, so we hope this will invite people and the community to enjoy the park while putting litter in its place,” Jackson said.

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The event is in conjunction with the Great American Cleanup and Keep America Beautiful projects taking place across the nation.

In addition to the trash can painting, volunteers also planted a rain garden to address nuisance flooding next to the City’s Ernie Morgan Environmental Center. They also mulched playgrounds and pruned trees.