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Strengthening and Connecting to the Social Fabric of Communities

Audience: Planners

STRENGTHENING AND CONNECTING TO THE SOCIAL FABRIC OF COMMUNITIES
This is the fifth in a series of briefs that describe the changes, insights, and lessons when arts and cultural strategies are deployed in service of comprehensive community development and planning. During ArtPlace America's Community Development Investments initiative, six participating organizations which had not previously focused on the arts developed creative placemaking projects and cultural strategies that could help them more effectively achieve their missions. PolicyLink conducted a research and documentation project to measure the progress, immediate outcomes, and impacts of those projects. This brief examines how artists have worked with community developers to weave a stronger social fabric, enabling marginalized communities to pursue changes that lead to greater equity, resilience, and authentic local democracy.