YORK-Everyone needs a helping hand every now and then, well now it’s the Coleman Center for Arts and Culture that has their hand out looking for help.

The Coleman Center for Arts and Culture is currently seeking volunteers to help with their summer municipalWORKSHOP projects from May 15 to July 10.

A branch of the Coleman Center for Arts and Culture, the municipalWORKSHOP is involved with four new projects for the City of York this summer and volunteers are going to be needed on all of them. The director of the Coleman Center for Arts and Culture Amy Horst said these four projects are just a further commitment to spreading the arts and culture to the children and adults of West Alabama.

“We will be looking for help with all these projects,” Horst said. “If anyone or any organization out there wants to help contact the center.”

The projects are listed below:

The Bicycle Shed: This project is a construction/building project that will provide a hub for the bicycle program that Richard Saxton began last spring. The City of York owns a small building downtown that will be used for the project.

The plans are to put a new roof on the building, repair some damaged walls, put in new doors and windows, and add a utility sink that will run off a roof-rainwater harvesting system. A gray water drain system will be attached to the sink flowing to an outdoor garden.

The inside will be renovated to house a youth bike mechanics workshop, and the beginnings of a free public bike program, so there are opportunities to help with a number of different tasks, everything from hammering nails to digging in the garden to greasing up bike chains.

Streetscapes (Sidewalk Mosaic Project): This project is currently underway. It serves to both beautify the city and as an educational tool for citizens and area school children.

Six mosaics will be made, based on designs inspired by microscopic images from parts of indigenous trees of Sumter County. These abstract mosaics will be made during a summer workshop at the Coleman Center for area children ages 10 and older (the workshop is June 14-18, call 205.392.2005 if you would like to sign up).

When the mosaics are complete, we will coordinate with the City of York to replace damaged sections of the city sidewalks. The corresponding tree will be planted next to each mosaic with an identification marker.

Linda Mu&110;oz, a mosaic artist from Cuba, AL will lead the mosaic workshop. She can use assistance immediately, pouring the concrete for the slabs and preparing for the workshop. During the workshop we need assistant instructors and afterward we will need assistance placing the mosaics around town.

Green Patch Project: Award winning children’s garden organizer, Yawah Awolowo has come to York to begin a creative children’s garden project. She is working with Richard Ganguet this summer to begin the project on the Coleman Center “block”.

Creative landscaping is designed for green patches around the block that are in need of a resurrection. Little segments of land in parking lots and areas of bare land will be planted with flowers and vegetables.

Volunteers are needed for the plantings.

City Bench Project: David Wyrick is a sculptor from St. Paul, Minnesota and will be in residence at the Coleman Center the entire month of June. For his project, Mr. Wyrick will complete three sculptural benches for the city and have an exhibition at the Coleman Center.

He plans to collect materials that have been discarded or materials that are no longer in use to “reclaim” the materials and turn them into something functional: a city bench. Six sites for benches are currently being sought out in town, David will pick three that are most appropriate when he arrives in York.

Volunteers are needed for the collection of materials and for work on the benches. If any person has ever wanted to learn how to carve stone/wood this is the best chance to learn.

How to get involved

The center welcomes involvement from individuals or from groups of individuals such as the boy scouts, girl scouts, fraternities, sororities, school clubs, community groups, church groups and all others. They also welcome participation for an hour, a week, or for the entire three months.

Please contact the Coleman Center for Arts and Culture at 205.392.2005 or email ahorst@colemanarts.org to schedule time to come lend a hand.