The Cambridge, MA-based Loop Lab is a Swiss Army knife of creative problem-solving. Their internship programs train and hire young women and people of color for careers in the creative economy, help disrupt the monolithic perspective of mass media, and work to preserve the rich culture of their historic neighborhood.
30.07.19
Power is a broad concept, and its import ranges from who has it and how to get it to what it ultimately means and why it matters. At the ArtPlace America 2019 Annual Summit, we asked three leaders in creative community development from around the country to answer one crucial question: “In your work, how do you access people with power?”
25.07.19
“When you dig into any community organizing, anti-displacement, creative placemaking, or placekeeping work, you’ll find parties as a part of it.” In these highlights from a recent interview, Scott Oshima of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center explains how fun, art, and culture can be some of our best tools in the fight against displacement and cultural erasure.
23.07.19
While we aren’t always aware of the culture that surrounds us, the messages we receive about our communities and ways of life have a great impact on our health. In the second of a series of guest posts, Theo Edmonds explains how culture and community affect the wellbeing of individuals, populations, businesses, and the economy.
17.07.19
For decades, Philadelphia’s Village of Arts and Humanities has been cultivating local civic power in creative and lasting ways. Learn how the organization has effectively used film, photography, sound design, and—currently—the built environment to bring residents into their power as community experts, planners, caretakers, and documentarians.
16.07.19
It’s hard work running a city, county, or state—and even harder to live in one that’s not well-run. Read civic artist Mallory Nezam’s rundown of major ways artists can help governments solve big problems, function more smoothly, and elevate the people and places they serve.
10.07.19
Numbers alone may move businesses and markets, but culture is the operating system that guides communities. In the first of a series of guest posts, Theo Edmonds explains what many businesses miss when they strive to improve employee and community health, and how creative placemaking can help bridge the gaps.
09.07.19
We are happy to share the exciting development that our colleague Erik Takeshita will be joining us at ArtPlace as a Senior Fellow on loan from the Bush Foundation. Erik’s first interactions with ArtPlace were through his role as board chair of Springboard for the Arts, as well as when he was working at the Local initiatives Support Corporation and launched their national creative placemaking work.
02.07.19
It’s not news that arts and culture can be powerful forces for positive change in communities. But that headline can belie a more complex truth. The Springboard for the Arts and Helicon Collaborative report Creative People Power surfaces interesting nuances about the complicated, sometimes unintended repercussions arts and culture projects can pack.
27.06.19
Artists can make change happen in many ways. In her plenary session at CPLS West this past February, Sarah Brin of Meow Wolf explored how artists have long employed creative acts of play to spread their messages, invite inquiry, and change history.