Creative Placemaking ResourceS

White Papers, Toolkits, Agencies, Conferences & More

Incorporating art into a real estate development project is not a new tactic, especially if art is defined in broadest terms, but there has been an increasing amount of interest the production of art and creative activations as part of real estate development projects—both with and without community involvement. I believe this is because not only do art and culture incorporated into a new development increase the value of the development for the landowners and the tenants or residents, but they can also create or strengthen ties between diverse community members and improve public health. 

There are many research studies, white papers, and toolkits that support these beliefs. Often, they use the word creative placemaking, a term that is used to describe the use of art and culture projects by a community and/or a real estate developer for various desired outcomes. I use creative placemaking to describe initiatives that intentionally use art, culture, and other creative tactics to create or maintain a sense of place and ideally bring local residents together for social and economic improvement of their environment. However, I think we need to find a new term and I sometimes use creative strengthening or placekeeping. I’m still figuring out what new term to use! 

As a practitioner, I focus specifically on commissioned artwork or creative activations; however, I’m interested in and always looking to do my work with an eye on the bigger picture issues and help tackle issues including racism, chronic health issues, social isolation, gentrification and displacement, inequity, and wealth inequality. It is very hard to achieve this as one individual working as a cog of the capitalist machine. These resources give me solace and hope that many people are, at least, thinking and writing about the potential for cross-sector collaboration to chip away at these systemic and chronic problems. 

In an effort to get a more comprehensive look at the field of creative placemaking and to share knowledge, below is a roundup of the papers I’ve summarized so far. I will continue to do so as I find more that are helpful. One main issue with all of these pieces is that they are mostly large documents that take a long time to read and seem a bit redundant when looked at together. Nevertheless, these resources exist and are helpful if you are just starting out in this field of practice.

Another main issue I’m finding in this field, however, is that while there is an abundance of research, white papers, and toolkits, there is still a day to day struggle to actually change much. I get that content can help change minds, but I wish more projects would share details about the work and inspire readers by showing their commitment to contributing and collaborating.

I would like to see more practitioners, be it the funders, the arts practitioners, or the consultants, sharing the nitty gritty — How much did the project cost? How long did it take to get people on board? How did they get funding? How did they record progress or measure results? How much did they pay their artists? Their consultants?

If you’re just getting started in this field or need a new source of inspiration, consider browsing through some of these papers and websites! 

ART & PUBLIC HEALTH
Creating Healthy Communities through Cross-sector Collaboration
By The University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine & ArtPlace America. 2019. 50 pages. 

This is intended for the public health sector and includes the views and thoughts of over 250 thought leaders from public health, arts and culture, and community development leaders. It is part of the Creating Healthy Communities: Arts + Public Health in America initiative, a partnership between the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine and ArtPlace America. The paper identifies three sectors that could work collaboratively, arts and culture, public health, and community development, key health issues to work on, and provides evidence of art and culture being used to advance public health initiatives.

Field Guide for Creative Placemaking and Parks
By Matthew Clarke produced by The Trust for Public Land & City Parks Alliance. 2017. 81 pages. 

This has great definitions and examples of how to do creative placemaking in parks. It does a good job of breaking down the process of commissioning an artist or cultural producer for a project. I love their outlines for what to include in a call for artist and contract with artist, and what to consider for maintenance of artwork. They have excellent case studies of creative placemaking projects in parks.

ART & CULTURE

How to do Creative Placemaking
Published by the National Endowment of the Arts, Office of Public Affairs Editors: Jason Schupbach and Don Ball Co-editors: Katryna Carter, Jenna Moran, and Bryan McEntire. 2016. 106 pages. 

This is massive and comprehensive. It includes mini-essays and case studies, mostly projects funded through NEA’s Our Town program. A good introduction, but it will take time to get through. 

Creative Placemaking 
By Ann Markusen, Published by National Endowment of the Arts. 2010. 60 pages.  

This white paper takes a look at creative placemaking examples in the United States, with a focus on economic development and cross-sector collaboration.

Creative Placemaking Values: A Guide for Practitioners, Funders, and Evaluators. Developed from and based on a national field scan commissioned by  Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, ArtPlace America, The Kresge Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts, and conducted by Bridgespan. Project conducted by Margy Waller. 2019. 16 pages. 

This is a useful workbook that gives you a framework for how to think about your project. It includes one of my favorite definitions of placemaking, “Community residents intentionally using arts, culture, & design strategies in local partnerships for equitable, healthy, & sustainable outcomes.”, and has a series of questions organized in four categories. One of the more useful pieces for actual executing a project. 

Including Culture in Development Guide.
By Urban Land Institute UK’s Urban Art Forum (UAF). 2019. 122 pages. $70.95 for the full ebook. 

Includes stakeholder roles, six steps to success, and case studies. Good charts and graphics. 

Transforming Community Development through Arts and Culture. 
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Community Development Innovation Review 2019-2. 2019. Published in partnership with ArtPlace America and PolicyLink. 202 pages.

A very helpful issue of the ongoing Community Development Innovation Review with essays and conversations with diverse views from artists, community developers, bankers, researchers, and others for a cross-sector look at using art and culture for community development. I really appreciate how they have both the downloadable PDF available and each essay or dialogue as a post from the journal issue’s main page. It makes it feel more approachable and feels more digestible via the posts. 

CREATIVE PLACEMAKING TOOLKITS

WEB RESOURCES

NETWORKS

CONFERENCES

AGENCIES & ORGANIZATIONS