Creativity Walk

How have residents adapted their homes and businesses to solve problems, brought new ideas into being, and added their own version of beauty to the local landscape?

I live in a lovely neighborhood in downtown Eau Claire where autumn's arrival has very much agreed with the houses and surrounding scenery. The winds of change are a'blowing and Halloween is just around the corner. Many people find joy in expressing their creativity through decorating their homes in celebration and anticipation for this holiday.

Right down the street there is a house that has been decorating for Halloween. There are lively visuals including spiderwebs dangling precariously over the front deck and windows. Looking out is a mummy illuminated by a back light. A witch's silhouette peers out behind the second story window, adding an air of creepiness to every passerby.

There are a lot of families in the neighborhood in which I dwell, so it makes a lot of sense that there are Halloween decorations to enstill that excitement that can truly only come when one is at the age of trick-or-treating.

A way I've noticed problem solving in one house all the leaves that have fallen into their yard being put into seasonal "pumpkin" garbage bags. This is a way to "decorate", aesthetically reflecting the time of year, as well as creatively solving the problem of too many leaves!

Creativity Walk

How have residents adapted their homes and businesses to solve problems, brought new ideas into being, and added their own version of beauty to the local landscape?

For residents of Murray Hall, Halloween time means pumpkin flavored lattes, the sound of crunching leaves, chilly fall nights, and the hall-wide competition for best decorated wing. With themes ranging from Charlie Brown to simple decorative cut-outs shaped like candy corn and spiders, students use their doors and walls to express their excitement over the holiday.

These students utilize popular cultural phenomenons in the hope that others will be able to reminisce about their own memories of watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and find joy in the nostalgia of their childhood. 

Other students opt for a more generic approach, displaying images that can be found in department stores, seasonal Halloween shops, etc. They strive for a more universal sense of community where visitors can share common thoughts about well-known Halloween symbols.

Regardless of the content, each student who took the time to decorate their doors and hallway in festive arrangements was attempting to breath life into their day-to-day activities, mixing up the monotony of dull wall colors and simple wooden doors.