Getting Active To Make a Sense of Place

A Creative Approach to ‘Place’

In the final post of his blog series, Chris Walker, LISC’s director of research, explains how creative placemaking leverages the power of local artists, culture and history to create economic opportunity and improve their overall quality of life in urban and rural communities alike 

11.06.2017 - LISC StoriesCommunity Wise Blog

For many people, conversations about arts and culture focus on what they saw at the theater last weekend or a new exhibit at their favorite art museum.
Those of us who work in community development take a bit of a different view. In the places where we work, arts and culture are not about audiences for art, but about people’s participation in culture. This means attending events, sure, but it also means creating art, practicing cultural traditions, helping organize events, and leading others to appreciate the spiritual strength the community’s own culture lends.
So cultural participation isn’t only what happens at the theater, but also in the most democratic of places – parks and other public places, storefronts, rowhouse walls, the streets at festival time. Or in bars where music is played. Or in a local gallery where a neighbor sells her art.

 We have found, as others have, that cultural participation – in the form of “creative placemaking” – is a proven strategy that builds community connections, spurs inclusive economic opportunity and advances revitalization.

Maybe most importantly, creative placemaking as we practice it relies on the assets of the communities themselves, not on outside development forces. It taps into the talent and imagination of local residents, artists, and arts businesses to elevate the rich history and culture of the places they live and work. 
An increasing body of academic and industry research offers proof points for how and why creative placemaking succeeds. It highlights replicable approaches that create jobs, improve safety, expand entrepreneurship and grow local incomes in both urban and rural areas.
The broad conclusion is that when we invest in community-rooted arts and culture, we invest in a more inclusive prosperity, one in which people of all incomes and backgrounds have an opportunity to share in the gains.

When we invest in community-rooted arts and culture, we invest in a more inclusive prosperity

At LISC, we look at two strands of creative placemaking as being particularly influential.

• The first involves support for locally led efforts that build social cohesion, strengthening residents’ connection to their community and to each other. This has value in its own right, but it makes other good things happen too.  For example, in places where social cohesion is high, there tends to be less crime—even if unemployment and poverty persists.  The difference is neighbors’ commitment to each other and shared stake in the future.
• Second, culture-led physical and economic development lays the groundwork for follow-on investments that create opportunities for residents. It makes the most of a community’s own assets, so arts-related businesses fill vacant lots, create jobs, brighten dark corners, and bring a new range of goods and services to the area.  Communities once labeled as distressed and dangerous begin to attract visitors and shoppers. In this way, cultural identities become pathways to material well-being.

For LISC, those two lines of work are closely related, each reinforcing the other.

___________________________________________________________________________________

When we invest in community-rooted arts and culture, we invest in a more inclusive prosperity