Stories
Mar 26, 2018
Each year, a handful of themes arise out of our ArtPlace Summit–usually they’re the topics around which our dinner conversations revolve, the discussions that seem to find their way into every plenary conversation and breakout session. Last year, we spent a lot of time talking about the importance of storytelling as a mechanism for social change. But it... Read More
Mar 20, 2018
As a documentary filmmaker, I’ve often tackled social justice issues, and used storytelling to advocate for equitable solutions to community problems. Creative placemaking — working to make a place better for all people who inhabit and use it — has been an exciting evolution of that practice. I’m a co-founder of Citizen Film, a non-profit documentary media organization... Read More
Mar 22, 2018
Lydia Hooper of Fountain Visual Communications will be running a session at the Southwestern Creative Placemaking Leadership Summit (April 6 & 7, Denver, CO) we caught up with her to get the low down on why you should come along, and how creative ways of describing events can add another dimension. My session and what participants will get out of it.... Read More
Mar 27, 2018
Places are defined not only by geography, but by the stories we tell about them. The design of physical spaces reflect and re-inscribe narratives of power, belonging, and access. For this reason, creative placemaking and place-keeping activities that seek to transform relationships of power and expand collective imagination of what kind of world is possible, must integrate... Read More
Apr 05, 2018
The Firefly Trail was one of ioby’s largest-budget projects to date. Learn how its leaders leveraged their ioby campaign to bring even more good change to their community. In the spring of 2017, ioby Leader Ivette Lopez Bledsoe led her fellow Firefly Trail board members in raising over $62,000 on ioby for the trail’s Model Miles Project. An effort to... Read More
Apr 03, 2018
Across New England, there are creative people working to make their communities better for everyone. Creative Community Fellows links artists, community organizers, urban planners, arts administrators and cultural entrepreneurs across New England, creating a community of practice that holds Fellows accountable and helps them take their work to the next level. All are united by their integration of arts... Read More
Jul 13, 2018
Kara Elliott-Ortega is the Director of Planning & Policy at the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture for the City of Boston. We caught up with her to find about the groundbreaking intersection of arts and culture with the built environment and community development in Boston. "The Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture used to be part of... Read More
Apr 20, 2018
Creative placemaking has been an ongoing discussion in cities and towns across the country for several years, but where do planners sit in this dialogue? What role does a planner have in the development of a creative placemaking strategy? How can planners incorporate creative placemaking ideas into their projects? Or encourage communities to implement these kinds of... Read More
Apr 18, 2018
There’s a lot to love about creative placemaking. When urban planning and development initiatives position arts and culture on par with housing, transportation, and other human necessities, they are better poised to improve a community’s quality of life holistically. Yet what’s sometimes lost in all the excitement over ‘making’ a place is the fact that the place... Read More
Apr 24, 2018
A small city in Colorado may get solar panel murals for their planned live/work spaces for artists. Prison inmates in Georgia may have their art displayed throughout the community. A small-town art center in Alabama will reach out to the local young people to ask what would entice them to remain in the area after college graduation.... Read More