This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Julie Rada is a contemporary performance director using art to create enrichment opportunities for prisoners in Arizona. Chris Webb, originally from Cleveland, Ohio is currently working as a poet, actor and public speaker in LA. Both are Creative Community Fellows. The following is a recounting of what they learned from their conversation. City with a C By Julie Rada I hold an image: of artists and neighbors painting their anger and resentment into a wall … [Read more...]
Josh Rice & Emilia White: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Josh Rice and Emilia White are members of our Creative Community Fellows program. Josh is a performer, puppeteer, producer, playwright, director, designer, choreographer, improviser & teaching artist based in New York City. Emilia is an artist and community organizer. She is also Programming Coordinator at University of Michigan and Curator of Performance Laboratory Detroit. They recorded their conversation and have shared it below. [soundcloud … [Read more...]
Placemaking: Bringing People Together
Connect. Connected. Connecting. Connection. Connector. This is what we heard when we asked our Creative Community Fellows and you to talk about creative placemaking. Many saw themselves as connectors of people, across divides and within them – sharing experiences to inspire and motivate. The idea of connection was frequently brought up when defining “community.” For many, and I know certainly for myself, community feels personal, it is almost synonymous with identity. It is a place where we feel we belong. We choose to identify in … [Read more...]
Sara Greer & Valerie Liais: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with artists and cultural entrepreneurs working in communities. Sara Greer is an artist who notices the wins & fails of parks & urban planning. She works in illustration, photography, set dressing & creative placemaking. Valerie Liais is a cultural manager in Morocco, co-founder of a cultural start-up designed to promote local emerging talents and projects. The images below chronicle their conversation. … [Read more...]
Kate Jopson & Mina Girgis: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Kate Jopson and Mina Girgis are members of our Creative Community Fellows program. Kate is a professional theater director with a passion for bridging the rural/urban divide in California. Mina is an ethnomusicologist and entrepreneur who specializes in curating and producing innovative musical collaboration across diverse styles. The following audio recording is an excerpt of their conversation. [soundcloud … [Read more...]
Elise Pepple & Heather Zinger: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Elise Pepple is storyteller extraordinaire based out of Portland, Maine where she is currently pursuing her Master’s in Social Work as well as working on Portland Brick which builds public memory by collecting stories about place from those who have been long term residents in the community. Heather Zinger is a multimedia artist working at the intersection of art and health in Fargo, North Dakota. She is currently working at the Artist-in-Residence at the Cancer … [Read more...]
Defining Community
How do you define community? This is one of the questions that we asked our Creative Community Fellows, and you, to answer and discuss over this week. For many, the definition included something shared, whatever that may be: a hometown, working in a certain art form or even a fleeting moment of standing at the same intersection together. Laurelin Kruse and Rachel Reynolds Luster certainly see community this way: "RACHEL: I tend to always return to Wendell Berry's definition of community, 'a people and their place.' I feel that the two are … [Read more...]
Casey Caldwell & Amanda Thompson: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Casey Caldwell is a director, writer, actor and artistic director of Ratatat Theater Group. Amanda Thompson is the Planning Director for Decatur, Georgia and a choreographer & performer for Zoetic Dance Ensemble. Both are Creative Community Fellows. The following was co-written by them. "An Unexpected Encounter" A short conversation about Creative Placemaking CASEY (curly hair, bright eyes, gets brainy-excited) AMANDA (red hair, … [Read more...]
Heidi Wright & Jessica Moore: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Jessica Moore and Heidi Wright are members of our Creative Community Fellows program. Jessica is an arts organizer and curator working with artists to produce new work while creating access to art through community partnerships. Heidi is a native of Mesa, Arizona, a teacher and violinist with Tetra String Quartet. The following is a recounting of what they learned from their conversation. Summary Thoughts By Jessica Moore Big Ideas from Tetra String … [Read more...]
Creative Placemaking: 35,000-Foot View
We asked our Creative Community Fellows to talk about creative placemaking and the work they are currently doing in their communities. There were a lot of similar opinions that arose out of these conversations, but also some disconnect, disagreement and debate of what these terms and roles mean. Throughout the week we’re going to be showing you these conversations and taking a closer look at the results that really got us thinking. Take a look at the outcomes of these conversations overall: How do you define “community?” How do you see your … [Read more...]
Justina Crawford-Williams & Christina Oi Ying Nip: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Justina Crawford-Williams is a musician, educator and arts administrator dedicated to mentoring others to realize their potential. Christina Oi Ying Nip is passionate about community-based public health work who's happiest working in, with and for her community. Both are Creative Community Fellows. Creative/cultural work makes communities thrive. Creative/cultural work makes communities connect. Creative/cultural work makes communities healthy. Summary … [Read more...]
Laurelin Kruse & Rachel Reynolds Luster: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Laurelin Kruse and Rachel Reynolds Luster are members of our Creative Community Fellows program. Laurelin is an artist, entrepreneur and founder of the Mobile Museum of American Artifacts. Rachel is a folklorist, artist and organizer working to promote community renewal and sufficiency in the Missouri Ozarks. The following is a reconstruction of a conversation that took place over a series of phone calls and e-mails. Laurelin: Well, I guess we should start … [Read more...]
Creative Placemaking & Cultural Entrepreneurship
One of the perks of working at NAS is the number of incredible leaders we get to talk with on a regular basis. The last several weeks have been no exception. In fact, we've been talking and listening quite a bit. Part of the recruitment for our Creative Community Fellows program has been a series of conversations with young cultural entrepreneurs about their work and their communities. It's been an eye-opening experience. Next week we will begin to share some of the stories of these amazing leaders. Today we want to share what we learned from … [Read more...]
Building Communities, Building the Field
At NAS, we have seen many examples of what happens when arts and culture works to create positive change in the social, economic and cultural well-being of communities in the US and around the world. This work has been going on for many years, and now is coalescing in the range of approaches and attitudes as creative placemaking – a field of imaginative ideas, committed practice and dedicated practitioners. In many communities, webs of organizations and individuals work in this way, integrated into the heart/soul of their neighborhoods, … [Read more...]
Creative Placemaking: A Conversation
Let’s talk about creative placemaking. In those five words, I’ve probably lost the attention of 40% of our field. It’s likely about 25% are now busy rolling their eyes. Another 15% might be asking, “What is left to discuss?” Yes, in many ways creative placemaking has become an often-cited cultural sector panacea. And yes, it’s a great phrase for grant proposals (and who doesn’t relish a good grant proposal?). But seriously, let’s talk about creative placemaking. Forget for a moment the capital C, capital P proper noun. Let’s talk about … [Read more...]