Unlikely Poets / Guerrilla Haiku Movement / Sharing The Sidewalk
We hailed down a police car in Orange, N.J., and Police Director John Rappaport pulled over. We explained our situation. He thought for a...
Poetry on the Panel
Attendees at the 2015 PolicyLink Equity Summit experienced something unexpected when they walked into many of the panels and workshops: a poetry performance.
Urban Art or Graffiti Vandalism?
Review of Stations of the Elevated, by Manfred Kirchheimer, 1981.
We Need the Data—But Can’t Forget the People—in Creative Placemaking
However difficult, altering one’s viewpoint of a community is a crucial step, because creative placemaking’s overarching goal is to reach everyone where they are, and you can’t do that if you begin with a well thought-out plan in hand.
Affordable Housing and . . . a Museum in Harlem
For over 30 years, Broadway Housing Communities has developed its own formula for meeting the housing needs of West Harlem's lowest-income residents. One of its unorthodox ingredients has been art galleries, and now, there's a children's museum in its newest building.
Looking at Places Through Artists’ Eyes
How an Alaskan housing authority plans to focus on creative placemaking as a development strategy to better reflect the communities it serves.
Exploring Foreclosure Through Art
In Minneapolis and Boston, artists help explore the losses (and gains) of foreclosure with work that supports advocacy and community building.
Poem: “Tires Stacked in the Hallways of Civilization”
Yes, Your Honor, there are rodents, said the landlord to the judge, but I let the tenant have a cat. Besides, he stacks his tires in the hallway.
Regrets of an Accidental Placemaker
Had I unintentionally contributed to the gentrification of my neighborhood and other neighborhoods around Washington, D.C.?
The Gentrification Will Be Televised
The North Pole opens discussion between residents of gentrifying neighborhoods and elevates the personal stories and memories of those being displaced.
Regenerating a Place of Cultural Pride and Healing in Albuquerque’s Barelas Neighborhood
Restoring a community's culturally significant site in Albuquerque to be a true economic resource as well as a source of healing.
Poem: “Gentrification”
I have seen a neighborhood eat itself for dinner
Challenges of Space and Place in Creative Placemaking
Some of us, myself included, are susceptible to the inaccurate thinking that when the arts are involved, the complications that can arise with traditional community building are lessened.
Don’t Wait to Call in the Artists
If artists are going to bring their creative problem-solving selves to projects, they need to get involved when the problem is being identified.
The Catalyzing Power of Art
Art can be an economic engine for neighborhoods, but sometimes locally-based artists need some support to kick their businesses into gear, and community-based organizations are stepping up.
Sitting on a Porch Can Be Good for Your Health
To help combat isolation and reweave the connecting fabric that had been lost, a neighborhood arts center launches an initiative that eventually became a movement.
If We Want the Arts in Baltimore, We Need Its Artists
Artists have left their mark on Station North and paved the way for an arts district, but the organically-developed communal live/work spaces that play such a vital role in helping make Baltimore an arts mecca are an endangered species.
Not Your Average Community Garden
A good community garden is a space that nurtures hope, natural abundance, and growth, and eventually moves beyond food and into the realm of relationship-building that can help sustain healthy communities.
Art Just Became Even More Essential
Coming mere days after the election, the reference to the famous Audre Lorde declaration, “Art gives us tools other than the master’s tools,” felt apropos. The people in the room were ready to hear any message of hope. I was no exception.
Crossing the Digital Divide During COVID
Flyers, phone calls, and podcasts, oh my! Organizations blend past and present strategies to stay in touch with community members.