You could say one man's trash is another person's art. This weekend, community members came together to improve the Park Plaza Shopping Center in the Plaza Heights neighborhood of Arlington near New York Avenue and Park Row Drive. Creative minds worked to cover the graffiti that tainted the building with beautiful art. The effort did not cost Arlington taxpayers a dime.

"Plaza Heights were my old stomping ground," said Mark Joeckel, executive director of Arlington Proud (AP), a grassroots organization dedicated to spur economic development in the city through community redevelopment."When I went back recently, I saw a wall uglier than any I'd ever seen covered in graffiti. The worst part about it, it had been that way for 20 years."

Through the power of social media, Joeckel began an online campaign on his AP Facebook and Twitter feeds to try and make the wall better than ever."Public art is a good start for economic development," Joeckel said."It gives people a sense of community." One of the people who tuned in to Joeckel's social media campaign was artist Aaron Bickle- and Bickle is now the lead artist for the project.

"When they first posted about this idea of transforming a wall that had long been forgotten into a beautiful community place by focusing on art, I had to jump on board," said Bickle."We divided the wall into different sections and decided to not give the artists a theme in hopes that there would be something for everyone. The theme has become peace, nature, love and respect, which I thought was kind of beautiful." Sponsors provided money and supplies and the artists donated their time.

Joeckel hopes that the art is just the beginning for Plaza Heights."This project begins the process. There is 24,000 square feet available in the plaza for retail, office space or entertainment. We are working with the police department and the City to develop things like crime watches and social events. What we hope to create are stories for the neighborhoods. That's what people gravitate toward."