I think a lot about how outcomes can be deceiving. What I mean by this is that a beautiful work of art is sometimes not so beautiful in the making. How many times have we heard about a director sexually abusing his cast in the process of making a great movie, or intern/assistant labor being exploited in the process of creating a million dollar artwork? Too many. I think about the types of values that we promote when we celebrate an outcome but fail to examine what goes into achieving that outcome. I think about this especially in the context … [Read more...]
What is Creative Placemaking?
This whole conversation began as a means to talk about creative placemaking. What is it? What is its role and why should we care? We’ve spent the last few weeks hearing from our Creative Community Fellows and you. Today we want to wrap up the discussion by tackling the biggest question: what is creative placemaking? Amanda Thompson notes that the term creative placemaking acts as an inclusive phrase for a range of arts and culture activities that benefit communities: “Creative placemaking is a nice catch-all phrase that allows artists, … [Read more...]
Scott Burkholder & Ali Fadlallah: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Scott Burkholder is an entrepreneurial minded, art promoting engineer based in Baltimore. He oversaw the business side of the Baltimore Love Project, the largest self initiated public art project in Baltimore and is currently working on utilizing art as a tool to teach empathy. Inspired by his teaching experience as an eleventh grade English teacher with Teach for America, Ali Fadlallah merged his passions for music and arts education by founding Personality … [Read more...]
Creative Placemaking: A Reader’s Response
We asked all of you to join in on this conversation as well. Mary Means works as a consultant for her firm Mary Means + Associates and has extensive experience in community-based strategic planning. Prior to entering consulting, Mary was Vice President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, where she is best known for having created the National Main Street program. The following are her answers to our questions posed on creative placemaking. How do you define “community?” It depends on where and what I am working on. I’m a … [Read more...]
Abdul Karim Hakib: On Creative Placemaking
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Abdul Karim Hakib is the Executive Director of Global Arts and Development Centre (GADEC), an art and development NGO based in Accra, Ghana. He is a Theatre for Development practitioner, writer and performer with a particular interest in popular theatre, indigenous performance techniques, performance studies and blending different genres of the arts. He is also a Creative Community Fellow. The following are his answers to our questions posed on creative … [Read more...]
Kate Balug & Tanya Daud: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Kate Balug is an artist, urbanist and educator using play to facilitate engagement, foment curiosity and build collective identity in Boston. Tanya Daud is a freelance journalist, filmmaker, curator and the founder of Aleph Collective, a multi-disciplinary initiative to present more nuanced narratives of differing cultures. Her work is closely focused on South Asia and the Muslim world. She is currently working in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They recorded their … [Read more...]
Rachel Hamilton & Katy Moonan: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Rachel Hamilton is a theatre educator and arts access advocate who enjoys creating performing arts opportunities in and with communities. She has developed drama programs with young people in schools, museums, community centers and healthcare settings. She currently works as the Associate Director of Education at Nashville Children's Theatre. Katy Moonan works in Massachusetts directing Family Literacy programs for a literacy nonprofit called Reader to Reader … [Read more...]
Monica Montgomery & Kristina Newman-Scott: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Monica Montgomery is a cultural entrepreneur launching the Museum of Impact, a social change museum that will explore activism, altruism and advocacy through a creative lens. Kristina Newman-Scott currently works as the Director of Marketing, Events and Cultural Affairs for the City of Hartford. She is working on developing a systematic approach to integrate artistic practice into strategic municipal planning and project development via the artist in residence … [Read more...]
Placemaking: It’s About Addressing the Disconnect
This week continues our conversation on creative placemaking where we asked our Creative Community Fellows to talk about creative placemaking and what their role is as community-engaged artists. We discovered that for many of our Fellows, the work they do is about addressing the disconnect that exists not only within the communities in which they are currently working but across sectors and social boundaries. We found that many Fellows see their work as a means to bridge these divides. In their conversation, Rachel Reynolds Luster and Laurelin … [Read more...]
Nicolle Bennett & Sifiso Maposa: A Conversation
This week we will be featuring conversations with leaders working in communities. Nicolle Bennett, is currently working with an arts education and advocacy organization called Feel the Music! She is developing a technology platform for artists, community-based organizations and policymakers to connect in a more meaningful way. Sifiso Maposa is a social entrepreneur working in the culture and creative industries. Based in South Africa, she is creating a digital platform that connects the creative industries of Africa to each other and to global … [Read more...]
Julie Rada & Chris Webb: A Conversation
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...]