Over ten years, to help establish and strengthen the field of creative placemaking, ArtPlace invested in demonstration projects through the National Creative Placemaking Fund; organizational change through the Community Development Investments program; cross-sector research, knowledge, and network building; strategies to vest power in local assemblies through Local Control, Local Fields; the creation of resources for arts and culture, local government, and higher education stakeholders; and storytelling and bringing people together. The network of colleagues we’ve engaged through these initiatives, along with many of our foundation partners and others across the country are carrying the work and the field forward. 

ArtPlace employed a number of strategies to build a strong field of creative placemaking — including building and deploying resources and  knowledge, communicating stories, and creating interwoven networks for the field. Our partnerships embedded knowledge and resources within existing networks. We worked with community development practitioners, artists and cultural organizations, higher education institutions, the creative placemaking field, and our philanthropic partners throughout the course of our work. We also sought to investigate core values of creative placemaking work, and our own practices.