Blog
Aug 27, 2018
ArtPlace is partnering with NeighborWorks America throughout 2018 for a series of peer learning visits that will culminate in the creation of a new course for the NeighborWorks Training Institute in December. Read more about our housing research and partnership here. Our first learning visit of five focused on the topic of culturally relevant affordable housing. It was held in San Ysidro,... Read More
Aug 24, 2018
On a weekday morning earlier this summer, Anchorage artist Sheila Wyne and writer Bruce Farnsworth pushed box after box into an area with four wood walls and a gauze roof. They used power tools to screw wooden posts into a gridded floor. A full-scale studio apartment began to emerge. "This is like being in a dollhouse," Farnsworth said... Read More
Aug 22, 2018
In 2014 ArtPlace was lucky enough to meet Nia Umoja, of the Cooperative Community of New West Jackson (CCNWJ). This was the first time we had funded in Mississippi, and it was exciting to be a small part of this grassroots neighborhood collective as they built a sustainability model neighborhood from the ground up the inside out.
They believed... Read More
Aug 20, 2018
Just over a month ago, the One Water Summit came to our hometown of Minneapolis. This national conference, organized by the nonprofit US Water Alliance, brought together 900 water leaders from across sector and geography to learn and connect for a more sustainable, inclusive and integrated water future. After attending the 2017 One Water Summit in New Orleans, it was our... Read More
Aug 16, 2018
Ashley Hanson is a theater artist, social practitioner, storyteller, and lover of rural places. This featured essay is adapted and expanded from a Firestarter Talk given by Ashley Hanson at the National Rural Assembly in Durham, NC in May, 2018. "The drive to my mother’s house is one of my favorites. As I turn off the two-lane... Read More
Aug 14, 2018
Three influential affordable housing and community development intermediaries—NeighborWorks America, Enterprise Community Partners, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)—are serious about incorporating arts and culture into their work. As they grapple with the lasting effects of structural racism, rapid gentrification, and resources that vary widely from community to community, they’re learning what works, sharing their findings, and continuing to experiment.
... Read More
Aug 10, 2018
Elizabeth Hamby is an artist and the Acting Director of Health Equity in All Policies working in The Center for Health Equity at New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We caught up with her to talk Dungeons and Dragons, smoke free public housing, and the art of community. The health impacts of structural racism. My work with... Read More
Aug 07, 2018
My interest in bringing art and music into vacant spaces began just after graduating college in Louisville, Kentucky. I was making visual art and playing in a band, and was looking for a venue that might go beyond the confines of the bar scene. There was a vacant warehouse space located right down the street from my... Read More
Aug 03, 2018
We’ve been working with The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking to produce Leadership summits all around the country. When we were in Charleston WV where we joined by attendees from as far away as Los Angeles, Canada, Alabama, South Dakota, Missouri, New York, and as close as down the street. The next leadership summit is happening in October in DC, please join us!... Read More
Jul 29, 2018
The words “artist” and “bureaucrat” can seem as opposite as the north and south poles. But poets, actors, musicians, dancers, and art-makers of all other stripes have been infiltrating our government’s ranks for years—and many are making great strides. In this story series, we’re visiting with accomplished artists who hold leadership roles in their cities about their... Read More