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The Village Building Convergence festival helps transform an Eliot neighborhood intersection

For the past 13 years, a local non-profit called City Repair has been hosting a “place making” festival that encourages residents to put a special stamp on their neighborhoods 


On June 1, residents who live near Northeast Rodney Avenue and Northeast Tillamook Street (located in the Eliot neighborhood) celebrated the festival, known as the Village Building Convergence, painted a mural in their intersection. 

WW was there to capture the 12-hour effort in a time-lapse video. 

“This really did what it was supposed to do,” says Nancy Zimmermann Chung, one of the organizers of the event. “It got us all together working on a project, and that’s what VBC is all about. Turning a road that used to be a divider between people into a tool to bring them together.”

WWeek 2015

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