Third Avenue Arts Walk

Third Avenue contains a lot of the murals that are supposedly famous in Port Alberni.  Is also home to a large homeless and displaced population, and so is often considered a dangerous part of town.  In addition there are an awful lot of people who talk about the homeless situation in Port Alberni, but have very little understanding of the reality of it.

While planning walks for other groups, I noted that one needed to be careful in the Third Avenue area in terms of which groups I took there.  However, as well as being a potential problem, this also presents an opportunity. 

I propose that we have an Arts Walk event, specifically on Third Avenue, roughly between Bute And Mar.

This would not be strictly confined to Third Avenue because there are some artworks that should be covered on Fourth and on Second, but would cover an area with an awful lot of artwork, *and* the major "problem" areas in Port Alberni.

I do not want to propose that people be taken on a tour of the homeless population as such, or the darker areas of town.  However, by holding tours of public art (of which there are numerous examples along Third Avenue), people will encounter the homeless anyway, and be exposed to how they exist on the streets.

Civic and activist groups could use the walks to make the broader Port Alberni community more aware of the issues and realities of the situation.  Groups involved, with criminality, re-entry to society, the disadvantaged, and outreach to those communities could use the Arts Walks as awareness and possibly fundraising tools.  It might be used for fundraising or to raise public support and expansion of the tiny homes project.

This could be used by Community Policing to familiarise businesses residents, and local politicians with the reality of the problem, and could be used to raise awareness both of safety issues and of the realities of the homeless population in Port Alberni.  They could also be involved in Arts Walks sponsored by other organisations, by participating in uniform.

It could also be used by the churches (and possibly particularly Grace Point), as an outreach, or an introduction to an outreach to the community, or for fundraising for that community.  Salvation Army already has a significant presence in the area, but this could be used by the Salvation Army for awareness type activities and for fundraising.