Arts and Community Development

Funders, arts administrators, and other people trying their hand at creative placemaking (artists and more unlikely suspects) find their way to me. Because I coauthored Creative Placemaking, the 2010 white paper for the NEA’s Mayors’ Institute on City Design, I’m an authority, yet folks get through to me with a cold call or email, instead of waiting for an announced webinar from the National Endowment for the Arts or ArtPlace or trying to read between the lines of application guidelines.

Enriching our culture and engaging diverse and underserved communities, small arts organizations pop up, flourish, and sometimes flounder, mostly under the philanthropic radar. They often foster artistic expressions not adequately served by larger organizations.

52 pages, May 2012. National Governors Association, NGA Center for Best Practices, 444 N. Capitol Street, Suite 267, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 624-5300, www.nga.org/center.

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   New Engines of Growth (3.3Mb)

Caron Atlas, Project Director and Editor. 2011, 200 pages, Arts and Democracy Project, Brooklyn, New York

Bridge Conversations is an inspiring collection of interviews, dialogues, and essays with artists, arts administrators, activists, and politicians using the arts to build, reflect, and improve community. It is thoughtfully constructed and inclusive in those selected to participate, their topics, and their approaches.

2011, 95 pages. Artspace Projects, 250 Third Avenue North Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55401, (612) 333-9012, http://www.artspace.org/.

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   How Art Spaces Matter II (5.5Mb)

2010, 123 pages. Artspace Projects, 250 Third Avenue North Suite 500, Minneapolis, MN 55401, (612) 333-9012, http://www.artspace.org/.

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   How Artist Space Matters (3.2Mb)

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   Designing a Twenty-First Century Cultural Hub to Build Community (839Kb)

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   Creative Placemaking (4.7Mb)

Creative Placemaking features sections on the:

• Challenges for creative placemaking such as clearing regulatory hurdles and developing evaluation metrics.
• Components of successful projects including mobilizing public will and designing around distinctiveness.

2009, 123 pages. Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History Foundation, 900 Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90007, 213-763-3466, www.nhm.org

September 2008, 53 pages. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, 140 S. Dearborn St, Chicago, IL, 60603, 312-726-800, www.macfound.org