[New Delhi, November 10. Image via Getty]

A physically disabled Indian girls holds a prosthetic limb during a free prosthetic limb distribution event in New Delhi on November 10, 2009. Bhagwan Mahavir Viklang Sahyata Samiti, the world's largest charitable limb-fitting organisation, distributed artificials limbs, caliphers and crutches to the physically challenged. AFP PHOTO/ Prakash SINGH (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, November 9. Image via Getty]

An Indian woman carries rocks during restoration work at the Sher Shah Gate complex in New Delhi on November 9, 2009 ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Archaeological Survey of India is restoring the protected monuments to make the Indian capital more presentable to foreign tourists and athletes coming next year. The four-yearly Commonwealth Games, featuring 71 teams from Commonwealth countries, are due to be held in the Indian capital October 3-14, 2010. AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, October 28. Image via Getty]

Indian actress Urmila Matondkar (C) presents a creation by Indian designer Jaya Rathore during the Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring Summer 2010 in New Delhi on October 28, 2009. The Wills India Fashion Week Spring Summer 2010 runs from October 24 to 28. AFP PHOTO/ Manpreet ROMANA (Photo credit should read MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, October 29. Image via Getty]

To go with India-religion-Sikhs-unrest-Gandhi-25yrs,FOCUS by Elizabeth Roche Indian Sikh woman Gurdeep Kaur poses while a portrait of family members who died during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots is seen on a wall at her residence in New Delhi on October 29, 2009. For Gurdeep Kaur, this weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the day she saw her son burnt alive during an orgy of anti-Sikh violence sparked by the killing of India's then prime minister. Kaur is one of countless women widowed by the anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi and elsewhere that raged for four days following Gandhi's killing on October 31, 1984, claiming at least 2,700 lives. As India gears up to mark Gandhi's 25th death anniversary, wounds left by the violence are far from being healed, with many still waiting for those accused of inciting the violence to be brought to justice. AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, October 27. Image via Getty]

Models are made up backstage during the Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring Summer 2010 in New Delhi on October 27, 2009.The Wills India Fashion Week Spring Summer 2010 runs from October 24 to 28. AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, October 25. Image via Getty]

A model presents a creation by Indian designer Ranna Gill during the Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring Summer 2010 in New Delhi on October 25, 2009. The Wills India Fashion Week Spring Summer 2010 runs from October 24 to 28. AFP PHOTO/ Manpreet ROMANA (Photo credit should read MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, October 5. Image via Getty]

Models wait for their turn during auditions for the spring-summer Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) 2010 in New Delhi on October 5, 2009. The WIFW 2010 spring-summer fashion week will be held from October 24-26 in Delhi. AFP PHOTO/ Manpreet ROMANA (Photo credit should read MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, September 15. Image via Getty]

An Indian muslim woman prays at the Jama Masjid mosque in the old sector of New Delhi after breaking her day long fast during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan in New Delhi on September 15, 2009.Muslims the world over are fasting from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan, abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours.AFP PHOTO/PEDRO UGARTE (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, September 10. Image via Getty]

Indian children wade through an inundated road to reach school in New Delhi on September 10, 2009. Over 13 mm of rains overnight, with drizzle continuing, caused traffic chaos on water logged roads and choked sewers in many places in and around the capital city. AFP PHOTO/Manan VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, September 9. Image via Getty]

An Indian elderly woman waits outside the domestic terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on September 9, 2009. India's second-largest private airline, Jet Airways, on September 9 cancelled more than 200 flights after pilots walked out, prompting crisis talks between the company's owner and the government. About 432 pilots are now on sick leave, in what Jet officials called a 'simulated strike' designed to inconvenience travellers. Those not reporting for work represented over 55 percent of Jet's 760 national pilots. AFP PHOTO/ MANAN VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Roy is currently working to turn a desolate trash-filled park into a work of art the community can enjoy, as today's Washington Post explains. The park, located in the Dakshinpuri neighborhood, was once home to an illegal gym and at night was overrun with drunks and drug users. When Roy first proposed her project, women were suspicious and men were hostile; some even thought Roy was trying to steal the land, while others assumed she was working for the police. Roy says she was threatened and asked to leave, but she continued to work on the park.

Her first artwork was a banner campaign, which asked people not to throw their trash on the ground. She later organized a group of children to sweep the garbage away. Her efforts have lead to a cleaner park, but on occasion, she has had to compromise her vision. Although Roy hoped for a green space, full of plants, without segregation, the residents wanted barbed wire to keep out strangers and a separate, fenced section for women. "We want a space where we feel safe, away from the men. A women's corner," explained Chandan Kaur.

Last month, some of Roy's work was destroyed when the city tore down the illegal gym. Officials brought down Roy's wall, which had been used as a canvas for community art. The wall had been painted blue by neighborhood children, and covered with their doodles and thoughts. Tina Negi says that the wall was "an invitation to everyone to speak their minds. We wrote about the park, drew scenes of women resting under the banyan tree... Now we feel empty without the wall."

But Roy is undeterred. She did not expect the park to be an easy project. She details the difficulties of building a piece of communal art on her blog, The Park. She does not seem upset by the opposition she has encountered, but rather appears to expect it as part of the process. She explained that her intention as an artist is to "provoke a response in the community people," and to increase awareness that "we are all touching one another's lives through this space." "For me, art is not a beautiful thing created in studio solitude. It has to belong in the community," she said.

In New Delhi Park, Art For Community's Sake [Washington Post]
The Park [Official Blog]

[New Delhi, August 5. Image via Getty]

Railway Protection Force (RPF) women squad personnel chat while waiting for the flag-off of the Delhi-Palwal 'Ladies Special' train in New Delhi on August 5, 2009. The Railway Minister flagged off two 'Ladies Special' trains, one to run from Delhi to Palwal in Haryana and the second to run from Mumbai's Chatrapathi Shivaji Railway (CSR) terminus to Panvel, on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan. An Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train with nine coaches, which will run on weekdays from Delhi to Palwal and back exclusively for women, will be escorted by a women Railway Protection Force (RPF) squad for safety. AFP PHOTO/Prakash SINGH (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images>

[New Dehli, July 2. Image via Getty]

Activists of Voices against 377 hug as they celebrate the New Delhi High Court ruling decriminalising gay sex outside the High court in New Delhi on July 2, 2009. A top Indian court issued a landmark ruling decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, overturning colonial-era legislation that outlawed homosexuality. The New Delhi High Court ruled that an existing statute prohibiting homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a 'violation of fundamental rights' accorded under the constitution. AFP PHOTO/MANAN VATSYAYANA (Photo credit should read MANAN VATSYAYANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, May 29. Image via Getty]

Students offer each other sweets after their Class 10 board exams results were posted at St Thomas School in New Delhi on May 29, 2009. Around 89 per cent of students cleared the Class X examination under Central Board of Secondary Education, marking an increase of more than a percentage point over that of last year. While 89.78 per cent girls got through the test, the pass rate of boys is 88.18 per cent, the CBSE said.The overall pass rate of 88.84 marks an increase of over one per cent over the pass rate of 87.08 per cent of last year. AFP PHOTO/ Manpreet ROMANA (Photo credit should read MANPREET ROMANA/AFP/Getty Images)

[New Delhi, March 20. Image via AP.]

A model presents a creation by designer Manish Arora, at the Wills India Fashion Week in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gurinder Osan)