Student’s State College Parking Meter Art Project Benefits THON

Penn State junior Amber Rupp, pictured above, is working with State College Borough’s Parking Department to add some color to some downtown parking meters, and raise a little move for THON while doing so. Photo provided

A Penn State junior with a plan to add some color to the streets of State College has joined forces with the borough’s parking department to create parking meter art to serve as collection points for THON donations.

As a child growing up outside of Pottsville, Amber Rupp remembers visiting the nearby town of Schuylkill Haven, where the parking meters are painted in bright colors and designs. The marketing major said she thought painted meters would be a nice addition to downtown State College, so when a friend told her about 3 Dots Downtown’s monthly grants awarded to individuals for projects that foster community, she decided to submit her “Coloring Centre County” idea for consideration.

The Awesome Grant trustees selected her project to be the March recipient of their $1,000 Awesome Grant, which Rupp says she is using to purchase supplies like sandpaper, paint and primer.

As plans began to take shape for making the project a reality, Rupp reached out to the State College Borough to coordinate the effort, and learned that in 2012 it had installed four painted meters in various downtown locations to collect coin donations for Penn State’s THON, which benefits pediatric cancer patients through the Four Diamonds Fund.

According to Kayla Lafferty, communications specialist for the Borough of State College, “After 10 years in service, the parking department wanted to make some improvements to the appearance of the meters … making (Rupp’s project) a perfect match.”

*An example of the kind of colorfully decorate parking meter that inspired Amber Rupp’s project. Photo provided.*

Rupp says she picked up 10 out-of-service parking meters from the Borough. So far, she has hooked up with students from State High’s Mini-THON organization for help with the painting. She also hopes to have enough leftover funds from the Awesome Grant to hold a pizza painting party to bring more community members together to work on the project. She says she will sand and prime the meters ahead of time, so participants just have to focus on creating their own designs.

“Anyone in the community is welcome to do this; the more the merrier,” she said. Rupp also plans to have some of the meters on display at the June 28 “Tuesdays on the Terrace” event at 3 Dots Downtown.

According to Lafferty, the Borough will install the repurposed meters in every downtown parking deck and lot, as well as at Sydney Friedman Park and at the intersection of West College Avenue and South Allen Street. These meters will accept coins for year-round THON donations. In addition, people can donate to THON through the ParkMobile app, using Zone 42100.

To sign up to paint a meter, community members can reach out directly to Rupp at [email protected].

This story appears in the April 28-May 4 edition of The Centre County Gazette.