Meet Kathleen Ownby
Kathleen is the Executive Director of SPARK School Park Program. She grew up in Houston. After college, she married a Rice University baseball player, had two children, moved to Dallas, and then to Tulsa. They spent 15 years away from Houston and moved back for her husband’s work. Kathleen’s mom was the first female at-large City Councilmember, and she asked if she could help out by volunteering in her office. Councilmember Eleanor Tinsley founded SPARK School Park Program as a result of a Green Ribbon Study identifying the need for park space in Houston. At the time (1983), SPARK was part of the Houston Parks Board, and Kathleen soon became the Assistant Director. She had experience working with the PTA/PTO at her children’s schools and with the Parks Department through her involvement with a garden club. The Executive Director switched to run Councilmember Tinsley’s international initiatives program, so Kathleen moved into that position.
SPARK has created over 200 school parks that are open to the public after school hours and on weekends. Working with schools and school districts to create neighborhood parks is an efficient way to increase park space, since school districts already own the land, and schools aren’t using the park outside of school hours. When asked about the best thing about SPARK, Kathleen says that it’s the community involvement. SPARK gives the power to the school and the community to design and create their own park. This power shift empowers the local community. The first thing that she asks a principal, when she meets with them to discuss a new SPARK Park, is to put together a SPARK Committee that includes parents from the PTA/PTO, someone who is active in the community, the art teacher, the coach, a plant operator, the principal or assistant principal, and whomever they decide. The committee works with the landscape architect to design their park.
In addition to SPARK’s approach to community involvement, they’ve been a leader in public art installations in neighborhood SPARK Parks since 1991. Art teachers work with professional artists to guide the students in a participatory art project for the park. Examples include tile mosaic entryways or outdoor classrooms, as well as brightly colored murals facing the SPARK Park. Another great thing about the parks are the trees. SPARK works with Trees for Houston, and every park gets new trees prior to opening.
Kathleen didn’t realize that this was going to become her career, but she’s been working on SPARK Parks for over 30 years. She loves working with so many different types of people to create a new park – the contractors, the principals, the landscape architects, the artists, the parents, personnel from the school districts, and even elected officials. She’s proud of the work they’ve done over her career, especially creating quality parks in neighborhoods where children didn’t have access to one. This has always been a guiding principle of SPARK, whether it meant using community development block grant funding (CDBG) or private foundation funding.
