The Wynwood Arts District is currently entering the BID formation process. As part of this process, we will be entering an exciting new period in our urban development evolution. As a Business Improvement District, Wynwood will be able to develop its urban infrastructure and explore services that will ensure a safer and more pedestrian-friendly experience.

ArtPlace spoke with Joseph Furst, Esq, Member of the Board of Directors for the Wynwood Arts District Association, about the ArtPlace Creative Placemaking Summit in January and how the initiative will be moving forward.

ARTPLACE: Where does this movement go next?  What ideas did you gain or lessons did you learn that you plan to apply to your initiative?  What did you share about your initiative that was surprising to you or to other participants?  What new opportunities for your initiative did you identify from conversations with other creative placemakers?

JOSEPH: The Creative Placemaking Summit in January was a very enriching and motivating experience – it was thrilling to see all the different initiatives that are being developed nationwide and to learn from others’ mistakes and successes. I believe that the idea exchange during the Summit made us realize that we can do so much more with our initiative than just the sanitation and safety improvement aspects, which have been a priority for the BID so far.

WADA and the BID can do a lot more to get engaged and involved with the community. We need to improve and expand our level of community outreach, not to be as hyper-focused in our own little world but rather to engage different people from different sectors because everyone may have different, valuable input.

We need to share ideas with the community and develop arts-related activities and initiatives to be implemented with the priorities of the BID. This can come in the shape of artistic enhancements to the standard features of the BID, such as the artistic enhanced crosswalks that we see today in front of Joey’s. What’s important is that the focus remains on the creative component of urban placemaking in Wynwood.