Journey to Creative Placemaking: Lessons and Insights

JOURNEY TO CREATIVE PLACEMAKING: LESSONS AND INSIGHTS
Reflections, learnings and insights on Creative Placemaking are shared in this series of white papers from The Kresge Foundation’s Arts & Culture team in concert with partners from different fields and sectors. The goal is to help illuminate the foundation’s multi-faceted approach to grantmaking, share lessons learned, identify challenges and opportunities encountered, and encourage conversations in the field. 

Bringing Together Arts and Community Development

BRINGING TOGETHER ARTS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Who has been behind the large increase in financial support for and attention to what has been termed "creative placemaking" over the past couple years, and why? Miriam Axel-Lute takes a look at the key players behind creative placemaking.

Breaking Down Creative Placemaking

BREAKING DOWN CREATIVE PLACEMAKING
Across the country, community leaders are talking more and more about the field of creative placemaking. But what exactly does it mean? What kind of impact could it have on your community, and how can you play a role in deciding what happens? This report looks at two examples of creative placemaking, both supported by The Kresge Foundation: the North Collinwood Waterloo Arts District in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Westside neighborhood in Covington, Kentucky.

The Theory Behind Our Town

THE THEORY BEHIND OUR TOWN
In 2011, the National Endowment for the Arts launched Our Town, a grant program that invests in projects that bring together diverse community partners to integrate the arts and culture into community revitalization work. Since then, more than 500 projects have been funded via Our Town in rural, tribal, suburban, and urban communities. The moment felt ripe for the agency to delve into past Our Town projects to better document, assess outcomes from the overall program and establish a theory of change.

Higher Education