Webinars
INTRODUCTORY SERIES
For the 2020 ELGL digital conference we held a series of four sessions that offered a broad overview of the field of creative placemaking. If you’re just starting to orient to the practice, or if you’d like to hear from long-time practitioners, these videos are a great place to start.
Session ONE
Creative Placemaking: Bringing the Power of the Arts to Local Government
Description: Across the United States, local governments are looking to partner with artists and arts organizations to bring arts-based strategies to the everyday work they do – from transportation, to public health, to parks, public safety. Come learn about how these practices are helping us look at many of our local challenges in new ways that are grounded in equity and community.
Panelists:
Ben Stone, Transportation for America
Marty Pottenger, Art At Work
Carlos Contreras, Independent Artist
Lyz Crane, ArtPlace America
SESSION TWO
Messy Processes - Beautiful Results: Talking about Return on Investment When Using Arts Strategies.
Description: One of the toughest steps in creative placemaking projects is telling others about why partnering with artists and arts organizations is a needed and critical component to success. How do we talk about the return on investment that arts-based strategies bring to local government projects when so much of what artists create with communities doesn’t fit into an Excel spreadsheet? Come hear from experienced practitioners about how they brought others into their projects and developed a shared sense of purpose and direction.
Panelists:
Rachel Peric, Welcoming America
Susan DuPlesis, Program Director, South Carolina Arts Commission
Lyz Crane, ArtPlace America
Session THREE
Tools in the Toolbox: Step-by-Step Strategies for Creative Placemaking Projects
Description: The proverbial devil can be in the details of any project management process, and this is certainly true for local governments when they’re working to bring on artists and arts organizations as their partners in tackling tough local issues. Come hear from a panel of some of the top organizations in the US working in this area of practice. Bring your questions! They’ll be there to help.
Panelists:
Michael Rohd, Center for Performance and Civic Practice
Pam Korza, Animating Democracy/Americans for the Arts
Jen Krava, Forecast Public Art
Miguel Angel Vazquez, APA Arts and Planning Interest Group
Session FOUR
When One Project Leads to Organizational Change: The Power of Using Creative Placemaking in Local Government and Community Development Organizations
Description: One of the most exciting dimensions of creative placemaking practices that has emerged recently is the understanding that the adoption of arts and culture strategies can not only be incredibly powerful for individual projects, but it can actually help to create changes within organizations too. Come hear first-hand experiences of how small efforts led to big changes in how local government and community development organizations developed new practices and perspectives from the inside out. [After the first hour – attendees will be digitally “whisked” over to the opening plenary of the ArtPlace America conference.
Panelists:
Allison Orr, Krissie Marty, and Jodi Jay, Forklift Danceworks and Austin Parks and Recreation Department
Julie Candoli, Paula Suchland, & Olivia Jimenez Foundation Communities, affordable housing
TOPIC DEEP DIVES
Also as part of the Creative Community Series an additional set of webinars was created to introduce local government staff to many of the nuances and opportunities available in creative placemaking work.
Art-Based Strategies & COVID-19
In this session we learned from Dr. Tasha Golden, artist and public health researcher, how arts strategies can contribute to social connection (“Distance not Isolation”), help build ritual or structure into these uncertain days, and generate platforms for needed health information. Link to ELGL webinar site.
Health, Arts, Parks, & Equity
The Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit organization that creates parks and protects land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Across the country, TPL uses place-based arts and cultural strategies to create parks that are more healthy, community-center, resilient, and equitable. Come join a conversation with Matthew Clarke and Geneva Vest from the Trust for Public Land to learn about their latest research on how parks departments, health officials, and artists are driving community development and health equity. Link to ELGL webinar site.
Incorporating the Arts in Local Government Processes
Artists and local government leaders can work together to bring innovative and creative capacities to achieve civic goals, improve the workings of government, and benefit community residents. But how can these same arts-based skills and strategies help city staff deal with times of crisis? Nicole Crutchfield, Director of Planning and Development from the City of Fargo, ND, and project partner Rachel Asleson from Reach Partners, shared information about the Fargo Project and their work to develop arts-based strategies to address the challenges faced by the city’s stormwater management system. They also shared how efforts came to influence the way they manage projects, and how their experiences are now supporting their department’s approach to the COVID-19 crisis. Link to ELGL webinar site.