Placemaking: Revolution or Evolution?

Monday, October 7, 3:00pm – 4:30pm

Organized by Grantmakers in the Arts.

Presented by Mark Hinshaw, FAIA, FAICP, Director of Urban Design, LMN Architects, and Anne Gadwa Nicodemus, Principal, Metris Arts Consulting.

Arts and culture funders increasingly face requests related to the broad range of activities and initiatives that fall under the umbrella of “placemaking.” This session, a conversation between Mark Hinshaw, practicing planner and urban designer, and Anne Gadwa Nicodemus, a researcher and writer on urban planning and arts and cultural policy, is designed to examine the historic roots of placemaking initiatives, current practices and activities, and future possibilities.

Are current creative placemaking projects a new form of planning and development or an evolution of past knowledge and practice? What are the responsibilities of placemakers with a focus on the built environment and economic success, to the existing and sometimes vulnerable groups that occupy these same spaces, be they artists, low-income communities, people of color, or others? How can funders evaluate outcomes within the timeframes of their programs, when placemaking work may take years for the benefits to be fully realized? What kind of shared knowledge base might provide a bridge for arts funders to fully participate in work that has multiple goals across sectors and possibly a different relationship with the “risk/benefit” balance than the arts sector?