Putting Art at the Center of Community Transformation

Last week, ArtPlace America announced that Barr was joining its three-year-old coalition of funders, federal agencies, and financial institutions supporting something called “Creative Placemaking,” which puts arts and culture at the center of community transformation. Creative Placemaking is an investment in cultural projects that enliven public spaces in ways that feature their distinctive character.

The concept marries elements of what Barr has focused on separately through our Transportation and Smart Growth and arts and culture. Attendees from organizations representing the arts, urban planning, education and beyond filed into Emerson College’s airy and open Bright Family Screening Room to hear from Lyz Crane, ArtPlace’s deputy director. Here are a some of the projects Crane highlighted as examples of creative placemaking work already underway:

Fairmount Cultural Corridor Pilot - Boston, Massachusetts

“Random acts of culture” are taking place in the neighborhood surrounding the Upham’s Corner train station, including the Strand Theatre, in Boston which are sites for pop up markets, neighborhood furniture, reimagined alley ways, and public kitchens. The Boston Foundation was the local sponsor.

Arts & Culture Temporiums - Washington, DC

Vacant lots and underused storefronts are the focus for temporiums in DC which will transform the spaces into artist showcases and cultural villages for three to six month periods.

Pittsburgh Central Northside Artway Connector - Pittsburg, PA

Artplace America

Vacant properties and public spaces are sites for permanent and temporary public artworks, community-based residencies for international artists, and free multi-lingual literary and jazz performances in this walkway in Pittsburgh’s Federal-North business district.

On March 3-5 in Los Angeles, ArtPlace is hosting a summit featuring its 2014 grantees, which is being live streamed

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