​Creative placemaking integrates arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities. Creative placemaking requires partnership across sectors, deeply engages the community, involves artists, designers and culture bearers, and helps to advance local economic, physical, and/or social change, ultimately laying the groundwork for systems change.

WHAT IS CREATIVE PLACEMAKING

Creative Placemaking is a cooperative, community-based process that leads to new and rejuvenated parks and open spaces reflecting local identity through arts and culture focusing on 5 main engagement strategies
  • Equity
  • Arts and Culture
  • Community Engagement
  • Partnerships
  • Stewardship

HOW IS CREATIVE PLACEMAKING DIFFERENT?

Creative placemaking is best defined by what it encompasses.
  • Character
  • Identity
  • Social Change
  • Life
  • Culture
  • Equity
  • Civic Engagement
  • Hopes
  • Dreams
  • Vibrant
  • Economic Development
  • Connected
  • Access
  • Diversity

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

​Creative Placemaking is generally understood as the use of arts and culture by diverse partners to strategically shape the physical and social character of a place in order to spur economic development, promote enduring social change and improve the physical environment.

DEFINING SPACES AND PLACES

  • Walkways
  • Cultural Centers
  • Nonprofit Spaces
  • Office Spaces
  • Industrial Spaces
  • ​Medical Centers
  • Community Parks
  • Green Spaces
  • Preserved Lands
  • Shopping Centers
  • Vacant Retail Spaces
  • ​Bus Stops
  • Community Centers
  • Golf Courses
  • Neighborhood Associations
  • Churches & Houses of Worship
  • Outdoor Spaces
  • ​Paths & Walking Trails

A NEW LENS ON GATHERING  |  PLACE AND SPACE

  • Connects arts and culture to larger community revitalization initiatives
  • Engages in cross-discipline,cross-sector activities
  • Possesses strong leadership and vision that has an outward orientation
  • Advances a shared community vision

PROGRAMS  |  IT'S ALL ABOUT PROCESS

  • Involve the Community
  • Artist in Residence Programs
  • Don't look in, look out
  • Utilize Natural Resources
  • Revitalize Vacant Space
  • Invite the Arts to the decision making table - Public Safety, Transportation, Development, Parks & Recreation, Economic Development, Preservation & Heritage

PUBLIC ART  |  FOCUS ON PLACE

  • Go Big
  • Tell A Story
  • Look Up
  • Multi-Sensory
  • Be Whimsical
  • Keep It Changing

​WHAT TYPE OF PLACEMAKING ARE YOU ENGAGED IN?

STANDARD PLACEMAKING
​Your currently support and/or host events, classes and a public art program
TACTICAL PLACEMAKING
You currently are engaged in small projects, focused on creating quality places, with broad impact
CREATIVE PLACEMAKING
Brings new life to public spaces by applying arts, culture and creative thinking to all aspects of the built environment to awaken vibrancy
STRATEGIC PLACEMAKING
Strategic investment in creating a community you want to live, work and play, with focused investment in prime locations.

SAACA CAN HELP YOU START THE PROCESS

  • Do no simply invite people to come to you, but rather, go directly to people.
  • Do you have an asset heat map? Do you know the resources that live and work in your community?
  • Does your Parks & Recreation leadership represent all of your community?
  • Do they understand the language culture, politics, geographic location, economic, values and perceptions of those around them?
  • Are you rewarding their participation and incentive's partnerships?
  • Do you invest equally among departments in arts and culture?
  • Are you regularly engaging with all of the community organizations, for profit and non profit?

THE PAYOFF IS BIG

Collaboration and engagement are not easy...it takes an extraordinarily high investment of time, and resources.
THE PAYOFF IS BIG