Site Description

The pedestrian experience is swiftly returning to the forefront of design and planning concerns in dense areas of Greenville's Center City, where car travel is less necessary and parking is in high demand. The ELVP proposes to expand upon the existing pedestrian and transportation infrastructure while augmenting those experiences with art interventions to keep people engaged and moving.

Greenville’s network of linear parks, called greenways, is partially constructed with additional phases in development. The Emerald Loop Circulation Plan includes the concept of an “Urban Greenway” to connect the new Culvert Connector with the Millennial Connector Rail Trail, where it would terminate at ECU’s future innovation campus in the Warehouse District. A "Downtown Connector" could thread through the urban core on E. 5th Street, head south at Five Points, then southwest down Dickinson. These urban streets could be designated “green streets,” or “complete streets,” which give priority to pedestrian circulation over other transportation uses. Streetscape amenities may include sidewalk widening, street trees and other landscape treatments, traffic calming and other pedestrian-oriented features.

Center City has a limited set of bike lanes in place. The ELVP suggests expanding upon that along the Reade Circle portion of the Emerald Loop, creating greater connectivity to ECU and places beyond.

Greenville’s public transportation network currently connects outlying areas to the Center City. The ELVP suggests incorporating an art-focused trolley loop within the urban core to offer a unique way of experiencing the area while also serving people of all mobility abilities.

Planning for a self-guided tour of significant locations in the history of Greenville's African American community is underway, sponsored by Greenville-Pitt County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The sites will be marked with signs and additional information will be available through an accompanying phone app.

The urban core’s northern and eastern edges are bordered by green spaces. Some more wild than others, these areas invite visitors to experience nature alongside the urban environment.

Composed primarily of City and County government buildings, as well as legal services and other businesses that support them, this area is where many people spend the workday.

As the heart of Greenville's Center city, the Urban Core is the commercial center of the area. Here one can find restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and galleries - all close to one another in a convenient couple of blocks.

The Center City’s emergent retail corridor - the Dickinson District is at the vanguard of Greenville’s arts and culture scene.

Home to a majority of ECU’s classrooms, the main campus also features galleries, a museum, concert halls, event spaces, studios and labs. This area is most active from August to May and quieter during the summer months.

Yet to be fully realized, this area is being planned for development. It will host the new Millennial Campus - ECU’s entrepreneurial space designed to connect the campus’ resources with the capital they might need to launch a project.

In November of 2019, Greenville City Council voted to designate a significant portion of the Center City as the Emerald Arts District. This is an important component of Greenville’s SmART Community Work Plan, in addition to the Emerald Loop. The outline of the newly-formed arts district loosely overlaps with the Emerald Loop. In advancing the concept of the Emerald Arts District, representatives of Pitt County Arts Council met with many of the same stakeholders who have been involved in the conception of the Emerald Loop Vision Plan. The two programs share the underlying SmART Community concept that the arts are a stimulus for economic development: when arts patrons come to the Arts District for an event, they will spend money on other things, like food, transportation, lodging and retail goods. The activation of these areas will forge greater connectivity across the current subdistricts. The two constructs overlap and support each other, but have different roles. Whereas the Emerald Loop is envisioned as a series of art destinations and experiences, the Arts District is the infrastructure that supports and feeds the Emerald Loop: • Live/Work Artist Studios. The Arts District can provide economic incentives, such as low rent, for artists and cultural organizations to move to the Center City. • Programming. The Arts District can provide the management to support existing arts programming as well as new programming identified in the Emerald Loop Vision Plan. • Funding. The adoption of a Public Art Program by the City can fund the production of artwork in the Arts District as well as in broader Greenville.

There is a significant amount of parking spread throughout the Center City, most in surface lots which are not open to the general public. Much of the parking falls under the jurisdiction of four entities:

Pitt County: Surface lots for employees and guests in the north end of the urban core in the blocks between 1st and 3rd Streets

City of Greenville: Surface lots and a garage for employees and pay-parking for the public throughout the Center City; plus street parking

ECU: Surface lots for University-affiliated people bordering the entire east edge of the urban core

Smaller property owners: Surface lots and garages for adjoining businesses and residences The existing sea of asphalt is deadening to certain portions of Greenville's Center City, in particular in the blocks between 1st and 3rd Streets, where government agencies and the university own many of these lots and at the Five Points junction, where massive parking lots separate the Urban Core and Dickinson districts.

Recent additions of several public and private parking garages allow for a greater concentration of cars, helping to free up prime Center City real estate for more interesting uses. Additional vertical parking (in addition to development of other modes of transportation to eventually displace automobiles in the Center City) is encouraged in order to create space for development that can enhance the streetscape experience and thereby make better pedestrian connections between the different Center City districts. When possible, parking garages should include retail and restaurant spaces on the ground floors and artistic treatments on the upper facades.

NOTE: • Solid shapes represent weekday patterns • Dotted shapes represent weekend patterns

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12pm 6pm

Downeast is an indoor and outdoor juried sculpture show, with prizes awarded. The indoor exhibition takes place at Emerge Gallery for a month and the outdoor part of the exhibit can be viewed all over Pitt County for just short of a year.

02 Jolly Skull Beer Festival _ Early January

and other fun things to do.

03 ECU Thesis Exhibitions _ March-May & November-December

St. Patrick's Day is a lively holiday in Greenville that brings together a parade, traditional Irish festivities and family-friendly activities. In recent years the event has been hosted alongside A Time For Science Expo, the science learning center and museum, elevating the entertainment with enriching knowledge.

06 SpazzFest _ Mid/Late March

to sharing sound, place and process.

What began as an opportunity for local high school and middle school jazz bands to visit ECU's campus to perform and listen to the Jazz Ensemble quickly outgrew its humble origins. In 2003, Dr. Billy Taylor lent his name to the festival and the Greenville Convention Center was retained as the venue for a gala event. The festival offers three public concerts, a free jam session, critiquing sessions for eight or more high school and middle school jazz bands and opportunities for jazz lovers to mingle and celebrate.

09 Doggie Jams _ Late April 10 PirateFest _ Mid April

and more.

The weekly farmers' market with fresh produce, meats, handmade arts, jewelry, antiques, homemade bath products, baked goods, wine, local craft brew, musicians, market events and more.

An annual beer and wine festival hosted by the Greenville Convention Center. The festival focuses on American craft microbreweries and wineries with over 125 beers and wines being offered. The Jolly Skull Beer and Wine Festival also features a DJ, live music, silent auction

Thesis capstone shows for both BFA and MFA degree programs held in the School of Art and Design galleries. MFA shows include talks sharing insights on theory, craft and practice that are open to public.

SpazzFest is an annual music festival put on by an ECU alum that seeks to showcase the D.I.Y. music scene with homespun dedication

A live music event in the parking lot of Sup Dogs that began as a humble concert has quickly become a mainstream music event with multiple acts from internationally recognized names.

PirateFest is the region's signature community event, designed to celebrate Eastern North Carolina's rich pirate history. The festival draws an estimated 35,000 people and over 150 vendors for two days of live music, delicious and unique food, art sales, roaming pirates

May - August

Pitt County's premier black-tie art event of the year, hosted by Greenville Museum of Art. All money raised helps the Museum promote the fine arts across Eastern North Carolina

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An all local and totally quirky beer festival that showcases breweries, cideries, & wineries east of I-95; plus food trucks, cupcakes and other tasty treats. Music and other performances keep the eclectic nature of the event going.

Concert On The Common features Greenville's favorite musical acts. The Wednesday after-work events activate the Center City of Greenville with people and festivities.

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An East Carolina University event that is hosted in Five Points Plaza prior to the Spring Commencement in celebration of the accomplishments of the students. There is live music, local food trucks, vendors, as well as beer and wine.

A celebration of the success of ECU baseball held in Five Points Plaza and filled with Pirate Pride, food, children's activities, baseball treats and music.

A Greenville tradition since 1973- the free, family-friendly concert series brings people outside, to the Town Common, to enjoy entertainment throughout the summer.

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Late at night the Urban Core becomes a an open-air costume party, as large numbers of young people gather to celebrate the holiday.

A celebration in honor of African American Music Appreciation Month, this annual music festival draws a diverse crowd of music lovers of all ages to Town Common for entertainment, food and

A patriotic celebration that brings residents to Town Common for food, drinks, live music and a state-of-the-art fireworks display once the sun goes down. Previous years have included games, a car show

Hosted by the local legionnaires for their community, the County Fair features fun for the entire family, including children's activities, entertainment, music, carnival rides, agricultural exhibits, commercial

October 31st

A free event held in Five Points Plaza that offers live music and fun for the whole family with inflatables for children, arts and crafts, live music, food and adult beverages in celebration of every ECU football home game.

Sponsored by local businesses, civic groups and individuals, the annual Festival of Trees presented by the Family Support Network of Eastern North Carolina features nearly 100 beautifully decorated trees on display at the Greenville Convention Center.

The annual Greenville Gives holiday celebration is held at Five Points Plaza. The event brings the community together to support local charities through donations, as well as to enjoy holiday story readings, family crafts, marshmallow roasting, horse drawn carriage rides, a tree-lighting ceremony and more.

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The Youth Arts Festival takes place at the Greenville Town Common and is a free event open to the community to see visual arts demonstrations, to try out art activities, as well as to see performers, musicians and dancers. The Youth Arts Festival invites children to create their own masterpieces.

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The Greenville Jaycees provide an exciting beginning to the holiday season in Greenville with the Greenville Christmas Parade, which marches through the Greenville's urban core, giving thousands of citizens their first celebration of the Christmas holiday. 21 _ 03 22 17 0323 _ 24 _ 22

Bowling grew up on a farm in Kentucky. After living in Belgium during his teenaged years he returned to attend the University of Kentucky where he received his BFA in sculpture and a BA in art history. In 1996 he moved to Greenville, North Carolina, to pursue an MFA in sculpture at East Carolina University. There he has remained, helping to shape the Dickinson District from his studio. Bowling’s steel sculptures, using recycled materials – many from the turn of the century, can be seen all over Greenville and he has shown extensively in other parts of the Eastern United States. Jubran is currently a Sculpture Professor and the Sculpture Area Coordinator at East Carolina University. His work addresses the concepts of time, movement, balance and space. With two permanent sculptures in the Center City, Jubran is the second most present public artist in the city. “Into The Future” was commissioned by the City to serve as a gateway for the new 10th Street Connector. The stainless steel and plexiglass sculpture is a symbol of entry into the future. The globe forms represent economy, industry, technology and celestial motion. The kinetic centers of the spheres give the work a dynamic and continuous motion representing the city growth and movement. His other piece, entitled “Time Travel,” was also commissioned by the City. This stainless-steel piece sits in front of the G.K. Butterfield Transportation Center.

Gallucci is an artist, designer and educator whose work has been commissioned for public, corporate and residential spaces around the country. His pieces in Greenville include the "Whisper Benches" located at centrally located Five Points. These seating elements are playfully adorned with leaves and flowers and carry whispers through tubes from one end of the bench to

the other.

Christopher Janney is a pioneer in the field of sound art, merging architecture, sound, light and interactive technology. For 30 years, Janney has been blending music and light with physical space in unexpected ways. His work invites the public to engage and connect. In Greenville his work is found on ECU’s main campus. “Sonic Plaza” was commissioned by the North Carolina Arts Council in 1991 as part of the 1%-forArt state public art program. The piece is composed of four elements which appear along the plaza – each interacting with passersby and time.

Spencer, a prolific brick sculptor and educator, created “C. M. Eppes High School Memorial” in honor of a school previously educating African American students that was burned down in 1973. The brick gateway honors the school’s namesake, Professor Charles Montgomery Eppes, who served as a teacher and administrator in Greenville for more than 40 years. The sculpture sits where the entrance to the high school used to be and includes bricks from the destroyed structure.

Amante is a sculptor who works out of Greenville while also serving full-time as a sculpture and art appreciation professor in the Associate of Fine Arts program at Pitt Community College. He came to the area from Michigan by way of ECU’s MFA program.

Located outside of the Wellington B. Gray gallery in the Jenkins Fine Art Center on campus, the East Carolina University Sculpture Park is an ongoing program of the School of Art. Sculpture is integrated into the grounds of the ECU Campus for educational purposes. Additional sculpture can be found in and near Joyner Library. The predominately modern style of this collection sits in noticeable contrast to many of the other works seen throughout the Center City.

The newly formed Greenville Mural Project – comprised of staff of the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge, Greenville-Pitt County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Uptown Greenville, East Carolina University and members of the community – periodically invites visual and graphic artists to submit proposals and qualifications for public art projects at various Center City locations. The goal of the Greenville Mural Project is to facilitate and fund the creation and execution of murals.

• The Little Willie Center Crayon Fence, on W. 5th

Street was installed by the children of Little Willie

Center, staff of the Pitt County Arts Council at

Emerge and students of ECU's Honors College.

The Starlight Café building, at the corner of Evans & 5th Street at Five Points Plaza, includes printed and stretched banner murals in the architectural archways of the building. RFPs open every three years for this rotating mural.

The Youth Public Arts Project (YPAP) is an outreach program for at-risk youth that provides arts education programs for youth to have a positive impact on their community, express themselves through artwork and interpersonal skills through executing the visual arts with teamwork. This project is targeted towards youth from 8 - 18 years of age who show an interest in the creative arts. All participants must be referred to the program by school counselors, teachers, school social workers, court counselors, private therapists and community professionals. Past projects include murals at the Drew Steele Center, the Humane Society, the previous Taff Building, Evans Street Fence, Merchant’s alley, planter and bench projects, banner designs for Greenville Area Transit and others. This project is funded through Bank of America, grants funding, corporate sponsorships and individual donations.

• To create a positive visual impact within the community • To facilitate self-expression through artwork • To interact with other individuals in a constructive way, building teamwork and interpersonal skills • To build work ethic and self esteem

The Emerald Loop strives to initiate a community of diverse but like-minded people to come together around a powerful common vision of their city as a vibrant, expanding and engaging place. The Emerald Loop Vision Plan is built on the input of key stakeholders and community members representing the diversity of ages and ethnicities, as well as a range of roles both public and private, in Greenville. By tapping into this wide composition of community and stakeholders, it is hoped that the art resulting from the ELVP will be expressive of the nuances of the community’s wide goals, interests, tactics and desires.

Engagement of the Greenville community included a variety of outreach and engagement including meetings both formal and informal, surveys and an interactive art installation. Through stakeholder meetings, an immense amount of understanding was garnered about existing and near future goals for art-related programs as well as future improvements in the works and being planned by both public and private entities.

The insight of the SmART Resource Team about how to leverage other parallel projects to expand the possibilities for art experiences in the Center City was invaluable to developing the Vision Plan. These conversations were critical to understanding the vision and details of past, present and future efforts to integrate art into the urban core and how the goals of the ELVP might work with larger initiatives and programs.

Greenville’s City Manager, Director of Planning & Development Services, Staff and Council are key partners in the ELVP and provided information and tours to describe plans for improvements in the Center City and vicinity, some of which present fantastic opportunities for the integration of art. The City was generous with their time in reviewing draft versions of the ELVP and providing feedback about how it might best fuse with other civic projects.

Another very important group of stakeholders is ECU's faculty, staff and students. Through discussions with ECU representatives, the University's interest in enhancing the Center City through art and other measures was made apparent. Faculty and staff have an interest in providing amenities and attractions for students and faculty, as well as in fostering interconnections between the University’s art, music and performance programs and the broader community through the creation of Center City performance spaces. Students expressed a wide range of desires for the Center City, including stores with curiosities and import items, international cuisine, music venues, all-ages cafes, geo-caching, food trucks, galleries for senior thesis exhibits, places to exhibit sculpture, art walks, safer streets, large plazas, interactive sculpture, free parking, "fun" places to go that do not include alcohol consumption, movie theaters, bowling alleys, arcades, seasonal decorations, outdoor skating, wayfinding and someplace "classy" you would take visitors to see. With ECU's abundant talent pool in both its faculty and student body, the Emerald Loop's art projects and programs will be enhanced through strong partnerships with the school. Another noted benefit will be the growth of the art economy through retaining artists after graduation and drawing more established artists to a vibrant art and music scene. As ECU expands into the Center City with its new Millennial Campus, its interconnectivity with the city both physically and socially will have a mutually beneficial presence.

Vidant, as a supporter of the arts and major employer in Greenville, will benefit from a Center City activated through art as well as potential partnerships with artists. Through discussions with administrators and human resource leaders at Vidant, we learned that a culturally vital Greenville as well as better connections with the Center City will attract and retain staff. In addition, stronger partnerships could develop interesting programs related to the wide reaching positive aspects of social practice artists who are exploring healthy communities. Art therapy programs can link artists and art-making with patients. Healthy environments where creative design of spaces can have therapeutic effects for patients, visiting family members and staff was also voiced as a desire. As Vidant expands and updates its facilities over time, coordination with the city and its arts organizations can be fruitful in providing these mutually beneficial partnerships for art integration.