Schumacher Place residents are being asked to celebrate art and community by jumping in -- feet first.

Footprints in the Paint is just one of four interactive experiences of Schumacher Days: Exploring Art, Embracing History, to be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 16 throughout the neighborhood, just east of German Village.

Footprints, which kicks off the day's festivities, will be held near Beech and Columbus streets.

The communal art event will involve adults, children and pets dipping their feet and paws into paint and make their way across a giant canvas.

The finished work will be framed and exhibited in the community.

Schumacher Days was created to help explore the past and present of the neighborhood while celebrating the Columbus bicentennial, said Mike Loyd, treasurer of the Schumacher Place Civic Association.

"This was specifically designed to get people down and dirty with art and history," Loyd said. "History brings appreciation."

The event is free and open to the public. For information, visit schumacherplace.org.

Schumacher Days will provide a backdrop for a brief video documentary.

"I think what we're trying to do is capture the spirit of the neighborhood and try to explain why we love living in the neighborhood," said Phil Winkelmann, who's leading the video initiative.

Another project, If the Walls Could Talk, focuses on the history of homes. Homeowners are invited to write something about their houses, from the perspective of their homes or themselves.

Poetry Posts, Please includes stations throughout Schumacher Place.

Steve Abbott, a coordinator of the Poetry Forum in Columbus, said the works are about Columbus. Abbott said he's working on a poem about Schumacher Place.

"The one thing I think is noteworthy about Schumacher Place is it has a lot of 'village' characteristics," Abbott said.

"It's very compact. It's got houses that are very close to the street; there's not a lot of setback there. There's a sense of community there. It's a sense of closeness that's physical but also emotional."

Also among the attractions is Food through the Decades, which features entrees and appetizers associated with different decades and an exhibit of a variety of well-known cookbooks throughout the years.

Jo Anne St. Clair, who's coordinating the effort, said residents are asked to research the items they're making.

"A lot of people don't remember when these dishes were popular and came into being," she said.