Stories
Jul 08, 2020
John Kind is a driven, passionate and charismatic artist with a unique approach to his blend of hip-hop, poetry, and existentialism. He has been writing poetry since the age of 9 years old. We were lucky enough to be introduced to John via our funded project the Loop Lab, a Cambridge-based non-profit social enterprise specializing in media arts internships... Read More
Jul 15, 2020
Letcher County is nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of Eastern Kentucky and is home to a diverse population of 23,123 people. Within the center sits a social enterprise program- Black Sheep Bakery which supports community members by providing job training to people who are recovering from addiction. Dedicated citizen and baker Gwen Johnson talked with us about preconceived notions and Appalachian... Read More
Jul 22, 2020
Hanmin Liu and Jennifer Mei, cofounders of the Wildflowers Institute, spoke with artists in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, CA, to see how artists are making explicit the needs of their community and what changes need to happen to improve the conditions for all people, but especially the most vulnerable, so they can all grow together.
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Jul 16, 2020
Together, ArtPlace America and Creative Generation are pleased to announce a new research initiative focused on arts, culture, and youth development. This partnership will explore the intersections of creative youth development, creative placemaking, and community development through community based, youth- and practitioner-led research. By the end of the year, a series of new web-based tools and resources will be created by... Read More
Aug 05, 2020
Julie Garreau, is the executive director of the Cheyenne River Youth Project, a nonprofit community development organization that serves the youth and families of South Dakota’s remote Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. She sat down with two Lakota teens - accomplished leaders from their Art Fellowship program - to discuss the Covid-19 crisis, their Lakota values, and how the novel... Read More
Aug 19, 2020
Silky Shoemaker is an artist from central PA who explores queer community in its many despairs and ecstasies, solitudes, strangeness, and epic iterations. She talks to us about how a vandalized life size plywood sculpture of Ahmaud Arbery in her front yard opened up the local community to a conversation about racial justice and encouraged her to think on... Read More
Sep 02, 2020
Carlton Turner, Director of Sipp Culture, reminds us of what is possible in this moment, a transition from a community of consumers to a community of producers. "This letter is an open invitation for my community and every community to take control of the food production needed to keep people fed, healthy and cared for. We have the... Read More
Aug 26, 2020
With the film "Machuchaleras: Ivelisse Rivera" the Puerto Rican grassroots organization Casa Taft 169 honors powerhouse Ivelisse Rivera (community leader and sister of famed salsa singer Ismael Rivera) for her work in preserving and fighting for the often forgotten or ignored Black communities of Puerto Rico and the legacy of her brother, Ismael Rivera.
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Sep 09, 2020
This year, ArtPlace America culminates a decade of work as part of an extraordinary community of artists, community developers, culture bearers, designers, government officials, philanthropists, and researchers who have come together from rural, suburban, Tribal, and urban communities across the United States.
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Sep 16, 2020
One afternoon choreographer Maura García danced to the music of Navajo-fronted band, DDAT in the homelands of the Kaw and Osage nations. The resulting film - a part of the "Natives NOW" project - is a multilayered music video, uniting Indigenous artists across genres and milesand a celebration of the intertribal Native community.
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